GROS ISLET, St Lucia, April 26, 2007 (AFP) – South Africa captain Graeme Smith admitted on Thursday that he desperately needs a top class spinner if the Proteas are ever to win a World Cup. His plea came after watching his team crumble to a seven-wicket defeat to Australia in the semi-finals after being bowled out for 149, their lowest ever score in the World Cup.
But it’s the bowling make-up which concerns Smith more as time and time again throughout the Caribbean tournament, his attack was made to look ordinary with its steady diet of identical medium-pace.
“I think one of our challenges is to find a spinner, a spinner who can help us going forward. Australia have one and so do Sri Lanka. That is one facet of our game we always talk about,” he said.
Smith’s admission will have done little for the brittle confidence of specialist left-arm spinner Robin Peterson who played just two games in the World Cup for a one-wicket reward.
“Certainly with the quality of cricket we have back home, we should be able to find someone and if we do, it will change our cricket in future.”
Smith said he didn’t think wholesale rebuilding was required after bowing out of the tourna