SA Training camp under way

A four day training camp for the South African national team going to Morocco for a tri-nations tournament with Sri Lanka and Pakistan kicked off at SuperSport Park, Centurion today.

Shaun Pollock, Allan Donald and Paul Adams where all present after flying out from England to join the squad. Pollock will be returning to England next week to continue his Warwickshire commitments before he and Nicky Boje joins the squad in Tangiers.

Justin Kemp, Mfuneko Ngam, Neil McKenzie and Steve Elworthy, not part of the touring party, were included in the training camp.

Speaking on his English season Pollock was very complimentary to Warwickshire. He has enjoyed the experience having had a lot of opportunities to bat as well as trying out some things with the ball. With restrictions on overs and not wanting to be over-bowled he is very happy with his season thus far.

Having batted up and down the order in the one day form of the game has been a nice experiment for him especially with all the one day internationals coming up.

Pollock's fitness has been good and his body has stood up well to the pressures that the English season places on the body. A slight little groin strain during the previous week is being rested, but is nothing much to worry about.

Pollock believes that with the World Cup coming up the main focus of the team will be to get results. He added that in the run up to tournament the correct team balance must be found so we might see a few changes in the teams so that the best 15 are selected to represent South Africa in the World Cup. To do this certain players will have to be given the opportunity to prove themselves, but in the end the main focus will be result orientated.

Pollock believes that with the current form being displayed by players and that the World Cup squad is far from being finalised South African cricket is in good hands. The more competition there is for places in the squad the better everyone has to perform.

The training camp concludes with two warm-up matches at the same venue, against a select Academy team starting at 10:00 am on Saturday and 9:30 am on Sunday.