South African Captain, Graeme Smith, has announced that he is satisfied with television referrals and the umpire decision review system (DRS).
Smith, also stated that he would not mind if the DRS system was implemented in more international matches.
Speaking at a press conference, Smith said: “DRS has become an integral part of the game, it’s great for the fans and I can’t imagine playing without it. It was designed to take away the shocking decision and it’s done that. I’d like to see it play a prominent part in international cricket.”
However, there was a lot of criticism over the review system during South Africa’s tour of New Zealand, when the ball-tracking, hot-spot and Snicko components of the system, came up with odd results, compared to what had been witnessed live.
“I did read a report that there were issues with the set-up of the cameras, which obviously isn’t ideal, and there has been a lot of skepticism about the last bit of the ball-tracking” Smith said.
However, England will be feeling that the DRS system is a big deal, as they are struggling to adapt to the new technology, which has seen a record-breaking number of lbw decisions going against their batsmen.
Smith, was also pleased with the team’s win in New Zealand, but, said that they still had a lot of work to do, in order to be fully prepared for their upcoming tours of England and Australia.
“I definitely think we can beat both England and Australia away. We have a lot of the same players who did it in 2008-09, but we have an extra edge now in terms of the way we think about the way we play and train, plus there’s the addition of players like Vernon Philander, Marchant de Lange and Lopsy Tsotsobe” Smith added.
But, Smith also knew that that both England and Australia would have the upper hand, since they would be playing at home.
“But we know those two teams play very well at home and you’ve got to handle the pressure of big crowds and the media being against you. England will have played a lot of competitive cricket by the time we get there and it’s a tough place to win” he said.
The South African Captain, has led the team against both nations before in 2008, when they won 2-1 against England, and then won the first out of two test matches against the Australians later that year.
With the memories of playing England and Australia fresh in his mind, Smith, thought that the South Africans have the ability to take them down once again, saying: “So it’s a very big tour for us, but we’ve crossed that hurdle before and we know we can do it.”
Newly appointed South African coach, Gary Kirsten, was very impressed with the way the squad performed in New Zealand, and said: “It was nice to be on tour, a long way from home, and to connect well as a team. We have lofty standards as a team and I thought we made great progress. The tour taught us about our strengths and capabilities.”
Kirsten, also thought that the tour helped prove that South Africa are real competitors, while also improving the team’s all-round game.
“I thought the bowling unit was outstanding, they bowled with real intensity and proved that they are a world-class attack. And the batting got better through the tour as well” he said.