Smith optimistic over fitness fight

South Africa captain Graeme Smith is winning his battle to be fit for the first Test against Australia in Johannesburg, which starts on February 26.

Smith has been suffering with an elbow injury which, coupled with a fracture in his left hand sustained in the third Test in Sydney last month, forced him to return early from the tour Down Under.

"The elbow is coming along nicely. I don't want to tempt fate, but so far it's going as well as I could have hoped," he told Die Burger. "The medical team is very happy with my progress. I have not felt the pain I had been struggling with for the past six months."

Australia arrived in South Africa on Monday and will play a three-day tour match against a President's XI in Potchefstroom, starting on Friday, ahead of the opening Test at the Wanderers.

The two sides will play three Tests, two Twenty20 internationals and a five-match one-day series over the next two months.