Tour of England 2008              Captain: Graeme Smith

44th official Test tour

Fourteenth Test-playing tour of England by South Africa

  (June - September 2008)

The South Africans were coming to the end of an arduous year’s touring but, having beaten Pakistan and India, now needed to overcome England and become the first side since readmission to win a Test series in England.

While the tour brought South Africa the series victory in Tests, it ended on a slight down note when they lost the one-day international series 4-0.

Smith said his players were jaded after playing too much cricket recently, and that they had relaxed after the Test series triumph.

Coach Mickey Arthur expressed relief that the ICC called off the Champions Trophy and asked administrators to balance the commercial opportunities of more tours with the need for rest and recuperation.

Other South African tours

Previous Tour

India 2007-08

Next tour

Australia 2008-09

Next tour of England

2012

Members of the Test tour party (15)

Opening batsmen  Graeme Smith, Neil McKenzie

Middle-order batsmen  Hashim Amla, AB de Villiers, Jacques Kallis, J P Duminy, Ashwell Prince, 

Wicket-keepers  Mark Boucher

Spin bowlers  Paul Harris, Robin Peterson

Fast bowlers  Morne Morkel, Andre Nel, Makhaya Ntini, Dale Steyn, Monde Zondeki.

Representation of Supersport Series teams:   

CC(Bo, WP) - Cape Cobras (6)

D  (KZN) - Dolphins (1)

E  (FS, GW) - Eagles (0)

HL(G, NW) - Highveld Lions (2)

T(Es, No) - Titans (4)

W(EP, Br) - Warriors (2)

Average age of  team at time of first Test match

(10 July 2008) :

       28 yrs  6 months

Test Appearances made before the tour

Kallis 119,  Boucher 114,  Ntini 87,  Smith 66,  McKenzie 47,  Prince 41,  de Villiers 40,  Nel 34,  Amla 26,  Steyn 23,  Harris 14,  Morkel 6,  Peterson 6,  Zondeki 5,  Duminy 0.

Team Officials

Selectors

Joubert Strydom (convenor of selectors), Shafiek Abrahams,  Mustapha Khan.

Selection

Unavailable:  Charl Langeveldt (in county cricket as a kolpak player)

Tour Party Announced :   23 May 2008.

The squad was the same that toured India, plus Andre Nel.

Not selected :

One-day squad announced:  5 August 2008.

Time between selection and departure from South Africa

  x days

(23 May to  June)

Travel

The squad assembled for a training camp in mid-June before leaving for England. They flew out of  Johannesburg on 23 June. Landed in London on 26 ?? June 2008.

Albie Morkel was already in England where he had played some county and club cricket

Time spent in

   x days

(arrival - 5 September)

On-tour selection panel

Reinforcements

Dale Steyn sustained a fracture in the field during the second Test at Headingley and missed two Test matches.

Graeme Smith had to leave the tour early with tennis elbow and missed some of the ODI series. There was no nominated vice-captain and Kallis (who resigned from the role in 2007) was asked to step in and  lead the side.

Fixtures/Results

† not first-class

§  one-day international

⊕ Twenty 20 international

Time spent in  before First Test: 

x days

(arrival - 10 July)

Test appearances on tour

4  -  Amla, Boucher, de Villiers, Harris, Kallis, McKenzie, Morkel, Ntini, Prince, Smith

2  -  Nel, Steyn

0 -   Duminy, Petersen, Zondeki

Highlights

•  Needing to bat for two days to save the First Test, after following on 346 behind, the first three in the batting order Smith (107), McKenzie (138) and Amla (108*) scored centuries.

•  DeVilliers (174) and Prince (149) ground out a record fifth wicket partnership against England of 212 at Headingley

•  Graeme Smith's determined captain's innings of 154 not out at Edgbaston saw South Africa to victory and a series win.

Tour Summary

Return to South Africa

Harris, McKenzie, Peterson, Prince and Zondeki were not part of the limited-overs squad and left for South Africa after the Test series.  Graeme Smith also returned home early, missing the last three ODIs, for treatment to his injured elbow.

The team arrived home in Johannesburg on 5 September 2008.

Time away from South Africa    74 days  

(23 June to 5 September