Jennings hints at Boucher return

Ray Jennings, the South African coach, has hinted at a return to the national team for Mark Boucher. "I don't really know why he [Boucher] was taken out of the equation, but I think he's paid his dues, or whatever the case may be, and I think he will definitely be back in contention for the national team," said Jennings to the SuperSport website. "If we want to beat England, we've got to come out blazing with our best players." Boucher was left out of the South African team that toured India, and his replacement, Thami Tsolekile, hardly distinguished himself.

But, Jennings was less optimistic about Herschelle Gibbs, the opening batsman, making it back to the national team in a hurry. "There are no guarantees," he said. "We have found other opening batsmen, for instance, so Gibbs won't necessarily just walk back into the team. And do we go on past performance or on current form?"

Jennings also stressed on how important it was for South Africa to develop world-class spinners. "You don't know until you get there how much the ball spins," he said. "Our spinners may be called spinners in South Africa - in India people would laugh at that. They will have to work on their skills and extend their attention to detail."

Meanwhile Grame Smith, the captain, speaking ahead of South Africa's series against England, praised his team for their performance in India. "We played a lot better cricket, and we extended ourselves," he said. "We took a younger side, and we performed a lot better than people had expected.

"I think we all gained something from the experience, especially the younger players - the heat, the crowds, the intensity. I don't think you can get any more intense than in Kolkata when you're trying to get the best out of a Test match."