November 08, 2007	Thursday	Shawwal 26, 1428

JOHANNESBURG, Nov 7: South Africa have omitted leading wicket-taker Shaun Pollock from their starting XI for the first Test against New Zealand starting at the Wanderers on Thursday.

South Africa will field the same team that drew the second Test against Pakistan in Lahore last month to win the series and captain Graeme Smith admitted it was tough on Pollock to leave him out again.

“We have a lot of respect for Shaun Pollock but the team that did really well in Pakistan deserves another chance,” Smith told reporters on Wednesday.

“I would not have liked to go into the match without a spinner, because I think we might need Paul Harris through the Test. You need an attack to win Test matches,” he said.

The 34-year-old Pollock has taken 416 wickets in 107 Tests. He was South Africa’s leading bowler in the home Tests last season and was named the Cricketer of the Year.

He was left out of the side for the two Tests against Pakistan but played in the one-day series which South Africa won 3-2 last month.

The absence of Pollock, who also averages 32.31 with the bat, leaves South Africa with a telling lack of batting depth, but Smith said he was confident some useful runs could come from numbers eight and nine, Harris and Andre Nel.

“It has been an asset having a frontline batsman at number eight but the top six really took responsibility in Pakistan and there were also good contributions at eight and nine, Nella got a 30 and Paul Harris scored 46,” Smith said.

New Zealand’s top order batsmen have struggled in two warm-up matches and there is concern about former captain Stephen Fleming, who suffered a thumb injury while fielding before last weekend’s match against South Africa ‘A’.

Fleming batted briefly in the nets on Tuesday. Coach John Bracewell said his star batsman was still feeling some discomfort but said he was confident Fleming would be able to play on Thursday.

Bracewell added that he was not overly concerned about the poor form of his leading batsmen, pointing out that batting conditions had been difficult in the two lead-up games.

“We have at least spent some time in South Africa while the South Africans have only recently returned from Pakistan,” he said.

Although the Wanderers pitch usually has good pace and bounce, Bracewell said his first impression was that it looked rather bare and dry.

New Zealand will offer a reasonable pace challenge to the hosts, with fast bowler Shane Bond a key player in what will be his first Test appearance against South Africa in a career dogged by injuries.

South African coach Mickey Arthur said he expected New Zealand’s batsmen to perform better than they had in their first two games: “You can’t read too much into practice games. The intensity is never the same as in Test matches.”

Teams:

SOUTH AFRICA: Graeme Smith (captain), Herschelle Gibbs, Hashim Amla, Jacques Kallis, Ashwell Prince, A.B. de Villiers, Mark Boucher, Paul Harris, Andre Nel, Makhaya Ntini, Dale Steyn.

NEW ZEALAND (from): Daniel Vettori (captain), Craig Cumming, Michael Papps, Stephen Fleming, Scott Styris, Ross Taylor, Jacob Oram, Brendon McCullum, Shane Bond, Michael Mason, Iain O’Brien, Chris Martin, Lou Vincent, Mark Gillespie, Jeetan Patel.

Umpires: Mark Benson (England) and Daryl Harper (Australia).

Match referee: Javagal Srinath (India).—Agencies