Cricket: Openers equal Proteas' record

By RICHARD BOOCK

Graeme Smith has paid tribute to his opening partner, Herschelle Gibbs, after the pair continued one of world cricket's most successful batting partnerships yesterday.

The opening stand of 177 on the first day of the second test pushed the pair's average partnership up to 84.76, second only to the 87.81 averaged by England legends Jack Hobbs and Herbert Sutcliffe between 1924 and 1930.

It was their sixth century stand in 32 test innings together, equalling Trevor Goddard and Eddie Barlow's South African record.

Hobbs and Sutcliffe achieved their mark in 38 innings.

Smith said he and Gibbs knew each other's game inside-out and were able to support each other through the lean times and ensure that South Africa's batting was well-served at the top of the order.

"We get on well, we know each other's game well and we talk to each other a lot. We work hard at being successful and seem to compliment each other, and I guess we've also been lucky, which helps."

The South African skipper got through to 88 before being trapped in front by Chris Martin, and promptly declared afterwards that he had felt vulnerable throughout his innings, and had probably never scored such a scratchy half-century.

"I'm very disappointed. It was hard toil all day on that pitch. It's probably the worst I've felt in any innings where I've scored more than 50.

"I never felt comfortable, so it was a real grind, and then I got out to a ball that I should've hit for four."

However, Smith was much happier with the general position of his side at the end of the first day, suggesting a total of 231 for two on the drop-in pitch was probably worth 50 runs more on an orthodox ground.

The Eden Park drop-in was slow and unresponsive yesterday and the problem was exacerbated by the absence of a hard surrounding block, causing many potential scoring shots to be defused by the soft infield.

"There's not a lot of pace to hit through the ball. If Jacques Kallis tells you that he was struggling to drive the ball, then you know it's not easy," Smith said.