Graeme Smith Quotations

We've always wanted to play positive, winning cricket, and if we can win this series, it means we can put a tick against this summer.

When we get back home in front of our supporters, we're going to be playing for a win. We're going to back ourselves, we're going to be confident, we're going to stand up and we're not going to back down.

To play 12 one-day games in a competition can get a little bit much, and they need to re-look at that if they are going to have a triangular competition again.

We know he's important to their attack. We've discussed a few things about him and we haven't just coped with him, we've dominated him at key stages.

We?re 1-0 up in the series. We were forced into being defensive and getting through this game and that?s what we did.

To play someone for four or five months definitely takes its toll, it's like Groundhog Day some times.

We need to look at the wicket. We brought him out as an option. We need to decide which way to go. Whether to play Nicky or him, or both of them.

Obviously, Jacques gives us another bowling option, and he'll (also) give us a lot of stability somewhere in the batting order.

Ricky seems to be more of a nice team environment, with everyone contributing. Everyone is going to do it their way. Ricky is trying too hard to find his own way of captaining.

If we'd taken our opportunities, things could have been really different. Both guys we put down in the first innings went on to make hundreds.

I'm a key batter in the side more than anything else, and from my point of view that's disappointing, I've got a lot of starts.

From a personal point of view, I think that is the only real disappointment -- not scoring as many runs as I know I can get and what I am capable of.

I don't think he undermines his effectiveness but I think he puts him under a lot of pressure when it comes to decision making and maybe he doubts his own decisions sometimes because Shane is offering so much advice all the time. It's hard to sift through what is good and what is not good, at times.

If anything, they (Australia) have been under more pressure than us going into this test match.

If the super-sub is not going to apply at the World Cup in 2007, then there doesn't seem any point in carrying on using it for four or five matches.

He was unbelievable, he got the ball to move both ways and he was consistent. He has wonderful potential.

He's come through really well in the last two days. He's felt nothing, he's passed his fitness test and we'll make a decision tonight.

He had a re-scan today and it doesn't look good. It would pretty much look like he's going home.

He has had a good season and his club have had a fantastic season.

He is a South African icon, and all South Africans look up to him with pride. His dignity, strength and courage have been incredible and we can only try to follow his example on the field.

He is difficult to handle when he bowls like that.

He is a bit of a worry at the moment. We hope that he will be fit for Tuesday and we obviously manage him going forward.

He is a bit of a worry at the moment.

What we are trying to do against them at the moment does not work and we'll have to arrive with a new game plan.

We are fearful it is possibly going to be sold for scrap, which would be a travesty.

I actually didn't say anything, but a few of the guys spoke and we knew that momentum was going to be the key. I don't think you can sit down and plan to chase 434 runs. No one considers that. We spoke about this being a freaky game and we thought that if we could get momentum anything could happen.

He was still in some pain, and we will continue to assess him. A final decision will be taken before the start tomorrow morning.

He wants to bowl in the tough situations, he wants to bowl when the field is up and he wants to bowl at the death. He wants to be in the mix of things and he's a much more aggressive character, he's a wicket taker - at least he wants to take wickets - so hopefully that will produce wickets down the line.

He (Clark) was unbelievable. He got the ball in the right areas and got it to go both ways.

Hall would be unlucky but an all rounder takes out an all rounder.

Jacques looks a bit more serious and he could be out for a decent period, but we are not too sure.

(Kallis) said that he got through yesterday's session fine. He felt it with one or two shots, cross-bat shots.

I think it's a wicket the batsmen would like to roll up and keep, but the bowlers would like to bury.

I think it's great to have a character, I certainly love having characters in my team and Nelly is certainly one of them.

It is a concern, it was a huge loss. It meant myself and (Justin) Kemp had to bowl when we didn't want to.

I think what I feel and what I'm allowed to say are two different things, so I think I'm just going to sit on the fence.

I think at the WACA the new ball is going to be the most dangerous part of batting.

I think it was a very strong performance. The top six we had is very young in terms of age and games and to go up against some of the best bowlers in the world and to play the way we did today showed a lot of character.

I think that they were the team that were choking, if that's the word, under pressure a little bit at the back end.

I think everyone who had the ball really worked hard today, I don't think the pitch provided a lot for anyone,

Our guys are pretty upset about it, something needed to be done. We expected to cop a bit of abuse but this was pushing the limits.

Overall I feel I handled the pressure well.

Our basics didn't work for us today. We weren't right with the bat, the ball or in the field.

My one-day form has been very good over the last year and I'm looking to carry it on from India.

I won't surprise me at all if he accepts the offer to become England's bowling coach.

It doesn't look good. It looks like he'll be going home, but I'll wait for the medical staff to make that announcement.

I think he was just sending a very strong message. But they are researching ways of preventing it in the future, so hopefully it won't happen again.

I think he will be joining the squad (this week). I don't know if he will be playing though.

I think Melbourne was good for us in that we won very convincingly and probably gave South Africa a few other things to think about.

I think it would be the perfect place for him to make his debut with his height and that.

We never really got a reason from the umpires, I think that was probably the most frustrating part.

The appointment of Jacques as vice captain is most welcome because he has so much talent and experience to impart to the other players. His knowledge of all facets of the game will help my captaincy considerably.

We have to play with a knife to our own throats. The guys don't need reminding that the West Indies players are hurt, and that's when they can get up and bite you.

We've made a number of releases on the subject and if it happens again how we react will be another thing.

We've made a number of releases on the subject, and if it happens again, how we react will be another thing. If it's still going on at grounds, then we're going to be very disappointed and unhappy about it. But since Sydney we haven't had too many problems on the field, so we'll take each game as it goes.

We've lost our real, out-and-out strike bowler but then again, it's an opportunity for someone else to take their chance. We'll look at the wicket in Sydney and decide - we've been calm on tour so far and we'll continue to be.

We have come here with a different mindset and being more aggressive tomorrow is the way we are going to go. We are not going to try and be steady and more defensive, we are going to be more aggressive.

We have come here a little bit more open and enthusiastic, and open to advice and to see things. We have really enjoyed ourselves here. We are as best prepared as we can be.

With the Cricket World Cup just more than a year away, South Africa hopes to use the series against Australia to iron out flaws and gear them up for the event.

We came out here expecting a lot of verbal in the papers and things being said. If anything they have been under more pressure than us going into this test match. We have just got on with what we have been doing. We have been very focussed on the things we have been able to control which is our preparation.

We needed one partnership in the top five. One decent partnership would have got us home.

We needed one good partnership in our top five. It was a definitely gettable total. Polly and AB showed what was needed.

You don't need me to tell you the obvious.

We want to keep the momentum we picked up with that win over Australia.

We are always going to put the pressure on the likes of (Shane) Watson and Johnson and Lewis.

We contemplated declaring behind, but we also felt that they should have contemplated declaring a little earlier, given we were in the box-seat in terms of the series.

We thought after having gone through their top order twice in Centurion and with the moisture in the wicket here, we backed ourselves to get a big chunk in their batting order.

This tour was without doubt the most difficult one of my life.

We backed our bowlers to take a big chunk out of their batting order, and in the first two or three hours we created a lot of chances. But I would have to say the gamble hasn't paid off.

The players really long for a rest of only 10 days.

But the other guys stood up well, although it was disappointing in the end.

Yes, we've lost but we've said throughout the game that the difference between 1-0 and 2-0 for us is nothing. It's still a lost series.

Today will go a long way for me confidence-wise.

You can never take him for granted. Certainly we've had the better of him in the last few games and moving on to Durban it's going to be another challenge.

We all know the skills that Polly brings, and it will be great to have him back.

There is a lot of pressure on them. They have been an established team winning everything for so long that people cannot accept that things are not going so well any longer.

This was probably the best team performance in one-day internationals under my captaincy,

What's disappointing is that we had opportunities to win the game. But their batsmen made the most of their opportunities and credit to them. It took nine days of Test cricket for someone to really win a day. And that was yesterday, which Australia won.

What's disappointing is that we had opportunities to win the game.

We always knew we were capable of this. We have looked to become more aggressive, and that's the way we will need to be if we want to win the World Cup.

We might have to have a few more boys coming over and the news isn't too good with Jacques.

We had the ability to bat all day, but credit to Chaminda (Vaas) for showing some of our fast bowlers how to come and do it on these kind of pitches,

To be fair everyone can see we haven't had certain things go our way but I also believe that you make your own luck.

We're disappointed we lost but we're going to have to pick ourselves up again.

We are very similar and it is a very hard place to come and tour. In the past South Africa have had a big fear of failure but I think we have come to terms with that. We have come here and I know people have called us unimaginative but we are more open. We are looking forward to playing in front of Australian crowds and playing in Australia.

Both guys we put down in the first innings went on to make hundreds. We really had the momentum and Mike Hussey's hundred at the back (of the first innings) took it away from us.

As things are happening on this tour, we'll probably play a match or two without him.

Credit to England - they've played hard and grafted hard for five matches and probably deserved their series win.

I seriously doubt we will go in with two spinners.

It would be great if we could exploit that.

It would pretty much look like he's going home.

The whole team wanted to be positive and wanted to go for a win. Cricket needs positive games. It doesn't need teams batting out and drawing games. For us, as a team moving forward, we're young and we need to be positive. To set a declaration and to try to go for a win was in our minds the only way to play. The negative option never came in.

The wicket will probably be quite dry. He's an unknown talent. He's young, he's exuberant, he's really excited about playing for his country and that's good.

The teams are matched up pretty well. If anything, we need to pick it up a step in our ruthlessness on the field. We need to finish things off. We may just get a bit tense, and that comes down to inexperience, playing the best team in the world. I think 1-0 down is disappointing, but it hasn't hurt us and in a lot of ways, I'm very positive about us. As captain, I feel we're very close to hitting the mark ...and we're going to come back hard in Sydney.

Sometimes, when you're batting with an injury, it helps you to focus your mind, and I'm hoping that will be the case. The medical staff would rather I waited until the second Test, but I really want to get out there and play.

South African crowds are going to support us but we also expect them to be dignified and not cross the lines that were crossed in Australia.

Definitely. We're not disappointed with the fact that we got bowled out in the last innings, the disappointing thing for us is that we had opportunities but didn't take them. We always knew that batting last against the two spinners would be difficult but it was in the middle of the game that we lost it.

Coming out of the Test series, a lot of the guys who were here believed going back home we could beat them. We didn't take our chances. We had them under pressure on a number of cases in the Test series and just didn't drive it home.

Coming in to today I felt a lot better about my game. I was more settled and a lot calmer in my head and obviously bowling well does add to your confidence.

As a team we've got to take more risks and he's (Botha) a guy who wants to bowl in tough situations.