Proteas confident of Test success in Australia, says Smith

Johannesburg: South Africa captain Graeme Smith has said that his Proteas squad is ‘quietly confident’ of succeeding in Australia as they prepare to leave for their three-Test tour at Brisbane, Adelaide and Perth, with the first starting on November 9 at the Gabba.

“We`ve earned the right to go there with that mantle (of being the number one Test team) through the way we`ve played over the last period of time. We know we`ve got a quality team that`s proved its ability to win away from home,” a website quoted Smith, as saying. “We knew the two tours [to England and Australia] were coming this year. Both were going to be tough and we`ve overcome one of those hurdles, and we`d like to do the next one,” he added. Coach Gary Kirsten also concurred with the Proteas captain. “We are going to make sure we prepare as diligently as possible. We went to England in the same way. We wanted to prepare really well. We didn`t want to say too much [because] we wanted to make our performances count,” Kirsten said. South Africa claimed the world number one ranking with a 2-0 Test series victory over England in August and Smith felt his side was in good shape to produce another solid performance, the report said. "For me, I would say it’s one of our strongest touring squads to go to Australia," he said. ANI