Proteas skipper Smith signs for HIL auction

New Delhi: South Africa`s skipper Austin Smith will be available for the Hockey India League (HIL) players` auction among others, said the organisers Friday.

The 27-year-old Smith has 103 international caps and has been part of South African teams that competed in the Olympic Games in 2008 and 2012. Drag-flicker Justin Reid Ross (63 goals in 91 games), Lloyd Norris Jones (46 goals in 90 matches) and Thornton McDade (27 goals in 94 games) are among the other big draws. Centre-half Lloyd Madsen (70 caps), defender Rhett Halkett (64 caps) and Erasmus Pieterse, who has kept the goal in 60 matches, along with defender Clinton Panther (34 caps) are also among the other players from South Africa who have signed for the auction. These players will join others in the inaugural edition of the HIL which starts Jan 5. The six-franchise-based event, featuring 33 matches, is scheduled to climax on Feb 3. PTI