Ashwell Prince fails fitness test by CricketArchive Staff Reporter

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Event:

South Africa in Australia 2008/09

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DateLine: 2nd January 2009

 

South Africa will take an unchanged side into the third Test against Australia after Ashwell Prince failed a fitness test on his injured thumb.

 

Captain Graeme Smith will play despite a painful elbow injury that will require a blood-injection procedure from his arm into his elbow tendon following the match. Smith is desperate to score a 3-0 series sweep over Australia to hand the Proteas the top ranking in Test cricket, snatching the crown from Ricky Ponting's men.

 

“We are announcing an unchanged eleven for this Test match. Ashwell Prince wasn't considered,” Smith said on Friday. “Yesterday in his training he still had quite a bit of pain in his thumb.”

 

The decision means Jean-Paul Duminy retains his place in the middle order after scoring an unbeaten 50 and a magnificent 166 in the Perth and Melbourne Tests in his debut as Prince's replacement. Smith will skip this month's one-day series in Australia to rest and recover in time for the home Test series against Australia starting on February 26.