Smith recovering well after stomach op

Graeme Smith, South Africa's captain, has started training again following a minor operation on his stomach almost two months ago.

"I am starting to push myself, but I might be a bit low on strength because I am behind on my weight-training schedule," Smith told The Sunday Times in South Africa. "It was quite sore where they cut through the stomach muscles and I had to go slowly when I started training again. I've had to learn to eat more slowly, because the op has made my stomach smaller."

Smith had the operation, at Kingsbury Hospital in Cape Town, to reconstruct a defective stomach valve. He has had the defect, which affects his body's ability to filter stomach acids properly, since birth. While it is not debilitating, the faulty valve had caused him discomfort for several years, particularly during times of stress.

"It got uncomfortable at times, especially when I was under a bit of stress. It got quite bad before and during our tour of New Zealand," he said. "We have had a bit of a break so it seemed the best time to get it sorted out."

Smith will now join the South African squad at the Tukkies High Performance Centre in Pretoria on July 19 for a four-day training camp ahead of their five-week tour of Sri Lanka.