May 11, 2007	Friday	Rabi-us-Sani 23, 1428

DURBAN, May 10: South African captain Graeme Smith and coach Mickey Arthur will keep their jobs despite the disappointing performance at the World Cup.

South Africa survived losing to Bangladesh to reach the semi-finals of the tournament, but dismal batting saw them crash to defeat by seven wickets to eventual champions Australia.

Cricket South Africa (CSA) said on Thursday it had decided to renew Smith's and Arthur's contracts for a further two years.

“The board decided to renew the two-year contracts of Graeme Smith as captain and Mickey Arthur as coach (which expired after the World Cup) because they spearheaded the Proteas' most successful season yet, despite the disappointing World Cup results,” CSA chief executive Gerald Majola said in a media release.

South Africa have won three of the four Tests they have played this year and nine of their 15 One-day Internationals.

Death threats: South African cricketers are receiving death threats after their below par performance in the World Cup, skipper Graeme Smith has revealed.

“We (players) have been keeping a low-profile following death threats,” said Smith in an interview to Kfm radio.

He said the team members have been receiving death threats since returning from the World Cup.

South Africa failed to perform up to expectations during the World Cup. They lost to Bangladesh and New Zealand in the Super Eights stage and to Australia in the prelimi-nary stage as well as in the semi-final.

Smith said the team is yet to recover from the humiliating defeat at the hands of Australians (in the World Cup).—Agencies