Graeme Smith sat in a corner of the cricket museum in Taunton, in front of bookcases stacked with old Wisdens and a wall decorated with famous sketches of 19th-century teams. The juxtaposition between present and past was striking, but the South Africa captain knows that the best of traditions must bridge the years.

What will be remembered as The Paul Collingwood Incident has again raised questions about moral values in a sport swollen by new money and Smith is determined that, when his squad returns home in September, its legacy will be measured by more than mere success. “We do not want to go down as an ugly side,” he said.

Although he did not watch the one-day match between England and New Zealand on Wednesday, which is being described as infamous, Smith was abreast of the highlights and lowlights by yesterday morning. And that in itself, he believes, is part of the problem facing international captains in the present climate. “Pressure has always been on you,” he said. “I just think now that there is more television, more media and things are blown up. That run-out, you see it on Sky News ten times before you have had breakfast. And now we are going to have a competitive series against England. Eyes will be on us and we have to be aware of that at all times.

“We want to be known as a really competitive side and there are sure to be competitive moments in the next few weeks. That can be great for cricket, but we would love people to remember the cricket we play and the contests - maybe Dale Steyn against Kevin Pietersen or Smith or Jacques Kallis against one of the England bowlers.”

So would he have recalled Grant Elliott in similar circumstances had the bowler been, say, Makhaya Ntini and the venue the self-styled Bull Ring in Johannesburg? Like the experienced captain he is, Smith had given the question much thought before media duties but did not arrive at a categorical answer.

“It is difficult to know what I would have done,” he said. “As a team we would like to think we would have gone with the spirit of the game, but who knows? I would definitely have taken soundings from other players out there. We all have to look at the bigger picture, but maybe you miss it in the moment.”

Smith believes that the South Africa team are the best he has led since inheriting the captaincy from Shaun Pollock after the disappointment of the 2003 World Cup and he is determined to play in the first Test at Lord's starting on July 10, even if his hamstring injury has not healed in time for the final warm-up match against Middlesex that starts six days earlier.

Jeremy Snape, who ended his Leicestershire career this week, will help to prepare the squad on the mental side on an ad hoc basis before joining full time for the winter series in Australia. He will add to the store of knowledge on the England squad and Kallis has taken soundings from Duncan Fletcher, the former England coach, who was his mentor in Cape Town.

Mickey Arthur, the South Africa coach, paid particular attention to England's 2-0 Test series win against New Zealand and merely stated the obvious when he described a big strength of his team as the fierce bowling of Steyn, Ntini and Morne Morkel. “When we were rebuilding we wanted three strikers to bowl over 140km/h,” Arthur said. “Then Kallis can swing it and do a holding job with a spin bowler. How England's batsmen cope with that is the big question mark.

“I have thrown the ball into the court of our top seven. If they can put runs on the board, then we can definitely take 20 wickets. England as a batting unit did not fire against New Zealand. One or two got them to respectable totals, but they did not fire as a unit and there was pressure at numbers five and six.”

England expected more

*Brian Close was not selected to captain England in the Caribbean in 1967 after it was felt that he had wasted time in a county match. Yorkshire bowled two overs in the last 15 minutes of a game that ended with Warwickshire needing only nine runs to win.

*Tony Greig was dropped as captain in 1977 after recruiting players for World Series Cricket.

*Mike Gatting was sacked as captain before the second Test against West Indies in 1988 after being accused of a dalliance with a barmaid. It was the final straw for the selectors after his on-field row with Shakoor Rana, the Pakistani umpire, the previous winter.

*Mike Atherton was fined £2,000 after being filmed rubbing dirt on to the ball during a Test against South Africa at Lord's in 1994.

Words by Patrick Kidd

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