Surgery on backburner: Cricket comes first Graeme Smith will delay surgery on his painful tennis elbow injury until the Australians have come and gone.

The South African captain, who has won admiration throughout the cricket world for his heroic innings in Sydney on Wednesday, arrived in Johannesburg yesterday afternoon having cut short his tour of Down Under because of his injuries. Smith has a broken pinky on his left hand and a torn tendon on his right elbow. He revealed that surgery on the elbow would take between eight to 12 weeks to recover, so it means he could still be in pain when he returns to the South African Test team in time for the first match at home against the Australians on February 26 at the Wanderers. After a few weeks resting the elbow and allowing the broken finger to heal, he will resume playing and have pain-killing injections, if necessary. “I’m seeing the specialist in Cape Town on Saturday where they will X-ray the hand again. I guess we will have to take it from there,” Smith said. He said the tear in the tendon of his elbow would require surgery at some stage, but finding a suitable time for this would be a challenge, given the Proteas’ schedule. It was not all doom and gloom, though — Smith raved about the Australian series. “It was an incredible tour. I’m really proud of how we played on this tour and feel privileged to have been a part of it,” he said.

“Australian crowds remain pretty hostile, but they respect the game and it was really heart-warming to see how they applauded us yesterday.” Smith has received widespread praise for his brave decision to bat on the last day of the Sydney Test, but said he had hoped he wouldn’t be needed. “I probably made the decision to bat with about 26 overs to go. I was nervous, but I guess it’s just how you go about it that counts.” He was full of praise for the stoic batting by Dale Steyn and Makhaya Ntini which helped hold up the Australian victory. “It was nice to get out [into the middle and] watch Makhaya Ntini defying the Aussies,” he said. Asked about the England controversy over Kevin Pietersen’s resignation and the sacking of coach Peter Moores, Smith said he was not qualified to comment but added that England needed to put it behind them soon because they faced a tough year with the Austalians coming to visit. “It’s sad to see this happen,” he said.

Heinz Schenk

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