PRETORIA, Feb 27: A jovial South Africa President Thabo Mbeki made some recommendations to cricketers ahead of their departure on Wednesday for the ICC World Cup 2007 in West Indies.He told captain Graeme Smith to elect to bowl first if he should win toss ahead of a match.

“I'm never sure when we’re batting first that we'll beat them but if we bat second we'll beat them,” quipped Mbeki.

He visited team at University of Pretoria's High Performance Centre where they are based for final preparations.

“We'll all be rooting for you.” Mbeki said he believed team would win.

Then he joked, promising Herschelle Gibbs portfolio of Defence Minister once he retires from cricket. He told smiling Andre Nel not to ‘look so angry’ when bowling. “It's OK to intimidate, but not too much.”

Smith handed Mbeki a personalised cricket team shirt with ‘Mbeki’ and No 15 on back, which he put on.

“The confidence you show in us really means a lot to us,” Smith added.

The team leaves for West Indies on Wednesday and play warm-up matches against Ireland and Pakistan before tournament kicks off on March 11. South Africa's first official game is against the Netherlands on March 16.—Agencies