Scotland look to avoid minnow bashing
One last mismatch presents itself tomorrow, when the high-flying South Africans take on the undaunting Scots
The Preview Andrew Miller in St Kitts
19-Mar-2007
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The phony war in St Kitts is ever so nearly at an end. One last
mismatch presents itself tomorrow, when the high-flying South Africans
take on the undaunting Scots, and then it will be time to focus on the
real business end of this group - next Saturday's seismic clash
between South Africa and Australia.
For Graeme Smith, however, tomorrow's fixture contains an unexpected
blast from the past. The leader of the world's No.1-ranked side is
about to go head-to-head with his former club captain. Ryan Watson,
Scotland's stand-in skipper, was a contemporary of Smith's during his
school-days at King Edward's in Johannesburg, and Smith admitted it
would be a surreal feeling when the pair walk out together for the
toss.
"When we were at school together Ryan was a few years ahead of me,"
said Smith. "It will be weird to walk out on the pitch and spin a coin
with a South African. We've been teasing him quite a bit since Montego
Bay, because there are quite a few guys who do know him. He's a really
good man, so I guess part of you wants him to do well - but then there
is a big part that doesn't."
"Believe it or not, [Smith] used to fetch drinks for me and carry my
bags," said Watson. "I don't know if he'll do that tomorrow, but I'll ask him. At school, he
was limited in terms of his strokeplay, he's progressed a long way
with that. Mentally he was far better than anyone I saw as a young
kid.
"He used to enjoy making big hundreds as a schoolboy, which is unusual
when other guys are making 50 or 60. He got hundreds as a 15-year-old
against Premier League attacks, so everyone knew he was going to be a
special player and he's proved that."
Watson was under no illusions about the task his side faces
tomorrow - a task made all the more onerous by the shock victories of
the past week. "They're a quality side and they're not going to be
complacent against the minor sides," he said. "We were poor at the
death against Australia, by our own standards, and that's something
we've worked on. That's a crucial part of the game and they've got
some really clean strikers, so we'll have to make sure we get it right
at the end."
"The upsets earlier in the week in the other groups have kept everyone
on their toes," added Smith. "It just shows that if you're not up for
it and don't perform to your levels you can put yourself under
pressure. We certainly will be on our toes - and the way we performed
against Holland is the way we want to perform tomorrow."
Inevitably though, Smith had more than half an eye on next week's
battle. "On everyone's minds is the Australia game," he admitted.
"That is the big one everyone is looking forward to. I think both
teams have their fair share of strong hitters, but I think our length
and power in our batting line-up is one of our strengths. We have a
good variety in our bowling attack, which has been brilliant over the
last few years."
South Africa are expected to welcome Makhaya Ntini back into the fold
for tomorrow's game, after he missed the opening fixture to attend the
birth of his first daughter. "He is huge variation for us," said
Smith, "and Andrew Hall over the last two years has been the best
'death' bowler in world cricket. We have options; we're very strong in
the bowling department. I'm pretty comfortable with our attack."
Scotland, for their part, are expected to introduce the South
African-born seamer Dewald Nel to replace their captain, Craig Wright,
who has flown home to attend the funeral of his aunt. There may also
be a recall for the middle-order batsman, Neil McCallum, who has
become something of a cult figure among the vocal Scottish fans in
Basseterre.
South Africa (probable) 1 Graeme Smith (capt), 2 AB de
Villiers, 3 Jacques Kallis, 4 Herschelle Gibbs, 5 Mark Boucher (wk), 6
Ashwell Prince, 7 Justin Kemp, 8 Shaun Pollock, 9 Andrew Hall, 10
Makhaya Ntini, 11 Andre Nel
Scotland (probable) 1 Fraser Watts, 2 Majid Haq, 3 Ryan Watson
(capt), 4 Neil McCallum, 5 Gavin Hamilton, 6 Dougie Brown, 7 Colin
Smith (wk), 8 Glenn Rogers, 9 Dewald Nel, 10 Paul Hoffman, 11 John
Blain
Andrew Miller is UK editor of Cricinfo