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Smith hails South Africa character after draw

15/07/2008

South Africa captain Graeme Smith has praised the character of his team following their battling performance in the first Test draw at Lord's.

The tourists lost just three wickets in the last two days of the Test match to salvage a draw with England, despite trailing by 346 runs after the first innings.

And Smith, whose side now go to Headingley with something of a psychological advantage over their hosts, said he was pleased from a personal and a team point-of-view.

"We asked each other for some character and came through. There were some great individual performances," he said afterwards.

"When you ask a lot of your team-mates it's always important to play your part as a captain, so it does feel good to start the series in a positive way.

"With your backs up against the wall you can't ask more from your team."

Smith scored an impressive century before he was dismissed on Sunday for 107 - the only wicket to fall throughout a full day's play.

But rather than focus on the positives taken from the top order – where Hashim Amla and Neil McKenzie both scored hundreds of their own – Smith has called on his side to improve and learn from their mistakes in the first innings.

"We know we can improve a hell of a lot," he added.

"We have a lot of hard work to do. There was lots of hype before the match and we didn't perform to the level we know we're capable of.

"That's going to be our challenge now."