South Africa's captain
Graeme Smith will almost certainly miss the
third Test in Cape Town after suffering a fracture to his right hand
during South Africa's first innings at Kingsmead. Smith is likely to
miss two to three weeks with what was diagnosed as an undisplaced
fracture at the base of his little finger.
He suffered the blow while fending off a rising 150kph ball from
Mitchell Johnson in the third over of South Africa's first innings and
he did not face another delivery before retiring hurt for 2. The South
Africans, who have no official vice-captain with Ashwell Prince not in
the side, have yet to decide who will lead the team in the field in
the second innings.
The incident was a virtual mirror image of what happened in the
memorable Sydney Test in January, when a brutal Johnson ball gave
Smith
a similar fracture in almost exactly the same spot on his left hand. Smith returned at the fall of the ninth wicket at the SCG in a
brave but unsuccessful attempt to save the Test, before he took a
month off to let the injury heal properly.
Smith might attempt to bat in the second
innings in Durban if, as at Sydney, his team has any chance of saving
or winning the game. But despite the long gap between Tests he is
unlikely to play the third Test in Cape Town, which begins on March
19, and South Africa are aiming to have him available for the one-day series that follows.
"It's a huge blow for us to have our captain out of the side, especially for the last Test," the spinner Paul Harris said. "It's a massive blow. But he'll be there with us in the change-room I'm sure for the last Test and for this Test and giving us his guidance as he normally does and giving us his pep-talks as he normally does. We'll have to make do without him and unfortunately that's the way it is."