'SA need to atone for World Cup flop'

Graeme Smith said South Africa wanted to atone for their poor performance in the 2003 World Cup during the home Test series against the West Indies.

Graeme Smith said South Africa wanted to atone for their poor performance in the 2003 World Cup during the home Test series against the West Indies.

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"We owe it to ourselves to make up for the disappointment of that tournament," Smith told reporters on Thursday on the eve of the first match of the four-test encounter in Johannesburg.

"I'm really excited about captaining South Africa on home soil.

South Africa have not played a test at home since the World Cup in February and March.

Under then-captain Shaun Pollock, they were knocked out after the first round despite home advantage and being ranked second in the world behind eventual winners Australia.

Smith saw the West Indies' batsmen as a greater threat than their bowlers.

"West Indies don't seem to have the same quality of bowlers that they had back then (in 1999-98), but facing 'unknowns' can be as dangerous as facing Courtney Walsh and Curtly Ambrose," the 22-year-old left-handed opener.

"Just their opening batsmen (Wavell Hinds and Chris Gayle) can win a match. Their techniques may not look too special, but they're both capable of scoring a 100 before lunch, which puts you on the back foot straightaway and forces you to play catch-up cricket."

West Indies captain Brian Lara told reporters he was hopeful his team could overcome the loss of injured off-spinner Omari Banks, fast bowler Jerome Taylor and batsman Marlon Samuels.

"We have had something of a disrupted preperation, but over the years the strength of West Indies cricket has been the depth of our reserves and I've noticed that start to come back in recent years," Lara said.

He captained the West Indies team that lost the test series 5-0 in 1998-99. He said the current side were a better combination.

"This is a better team than 1998-99 despite the retirements of Curtly Ambrose and Courtney Walsh, and there is no doubt we're better prepared."