South Africa Coming 'Harder'

South Africa captain Shaun Pollock arrived in the Caribbean yesterday, saying that his team was stronger than two years ago and he also expressed surprise that he did not yet know who his opposing counterpart would be.

It's probably a bit surprising. It's only a week or so before the Test match, but we are not really worried about that, he told reporters who packed a lounge at the Grantley Adams International Airport yesterday.

We will play against the team that is put on the field. We've just got to concentrate on it from that angle.

I've heard rumours that Jimmy Adams might not be in and (Carl) Hooper might.

That stuff is out of our hands. It's not something we should be worrying ourselves with.

The South Africans, who arrived just before 4:30 p.m., spent about two hours in Barbados before taking a flight for Guyana where the opening Test begins in a week.

Pollock is one of several team members who were involved in the 1998-99 series in which Hansie Cronje's team subjected the West Indies to an embarrassing 5-0 defeat.

He has witnessed growth in his team and stressed yesterday that South Africa were stronger than they were two years ago.

We have a lot more experience and I think our depth is better than it was in those days, said the 27-year-old all-rounder, who has scored 1 713 runs and taken 211 wickets in 51 Tests.

We've got a lot of talented and exciting cricketers coming through and the guys who have been around have established themselves. I would say that we are stronger.

Be that is it may, he expects a serious challenge from the West Indies, who also suffered a whitewash on their recent tour of Australia and who are yet to have a captain appointed.

We've played very good cricket this season, but all that does not count for much, Pollock said.

We have come here on a new tour. It's new opposition, and we'll start from scratch.

We're going to have to be on top of our game and make sure we are fully ready and prepared before the first Test starts.

In preparation for the opening Test at Bourda, the tourists will have just a solitary three-day warm-up match, against a Busta XI, starting Sunday at the Everest Club in Georgetown.

Pollock has been captain of South Africa for less than a year, having been elevated to the post following the controversial exit of Hansie Cronje.

It was a sad loss for us. He was a fine performer for South Africa and he had a wealth of experience..

With his record in One-Day and Test cricket, it was always going to be hard to recover from a loss like that. But I think the team has adapted very well.

Pollock said the role of captaincy was a challenge and he still had a long way to go.

It has been different. It's taken a bit of adapting to, but I've enjoyed the challenge, he said.

It's great to be captain of the side we've got. They've made my job a lot easier.