Proteas against Zim/Aussies?
Bloemfontein - Zimbabwe's cricket team should not expect any mercy from their South African opponents during the one-day series that starts at Goodyear Park here on Friday.
Caretaker captain Jacques Kallis says the Proteas will play as hard against Zimbabwe as they would against Australia.
Kallis sees the three-match series as the ideal start to a season that will end with the World Cup tournament in the West Indies.
"This series is especially valuable for the players who have not been in action for a while," said Kallis. "This is a good way for them to get back into things."
Kallis, who himself has recovered from an elbow injury, confirmed that everything the Proteas did from now on would be aimed at the World Cup tournament.
The veteran, standing in as captain for the injured Graeme Smith, has also had a bout of 'flu and was one of three players who did not take part in the team's fitness tests at the University of the Free State on Wednesday.
Kallis said he had just about shaken off a cold and that the elbow injury that had kept him out of the game was not troubling him much any more.
Kallis and Dippenaar separated?
"I have hit a few balls that were thrown to me. The high-intensity net practices during the next few days will be the real test. I believe I'll be ready," he said.
Kallis and Boeta Dippenaar, both regarded as consistent anchor batsmen in one-day cricket, are - depending on batting conditions - unlikely to play in the same SA teams in future.
Asked whether he planned to try batting with more fluency in future, Kallis said it was something that would be determined by the situation at the time.
Shaun Pollock, who had a sore calf, and AB de Villiers were the others who missed the fitness tests.
Pollock was injured in a Twenty20 match for the Dolphins against a Pietermaritzburg XI. De Villiers was cut on the foot while he was getting out of a dam last Saturday.
Wicketkeeper Mark Boucher did the best in the demanding bleep tests, beating the super fit Makhaya Ntini.
Jonty shows the way
Newcomer Alviro Petersen did best in the 10m sprints, clocking 1.8 seconds.
Boucher and André Nel also did well in the sprints and the fielding coach, 37-year-old Jonty Rhodes, showed some players how it should be done.
Smith, still covering from ankle surgery, trained away from the rest of the team, watched by the team's physiotherapist, Shane Jabaar.
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