Smith to head home after Test

South Africa captain Graeme Smith will return home after the third and final Test against Australia in a bid to recover from his chronic elbow injury.

Smith will miss the two Twenty20 internationals and five one-day matches against Australia later this month, but is expected to be available for the three-game home Test series against Australia that begins in February.

"We have decided to send Graeme (Smith) home after (the) Sydney (Test) to give him the best chance of getting ready for the home series," South African coach Mickey Arthur said.

"He will have the blood injection as soon as he gets back and we think that by following this course of action as soon as possible after Sydney, we will give him the best possibile opportunity of being fit for the home series."

Arthur said Smith has been in a high amount of pain during the current Test series and it was amazing that he has continued to lead the team so well.

"He is four or five cortizone injections down the line. We thought the cortizone was going to work but that is not going to be the case," Arthur revealed.

"He goes through a huge amount of discomfort and it seems to get a lot worse when he reaches 40 or 50. It almost gets to a point when he can't grip the bat with his top hand any more. He is desperate to play at Sydney and make it a great match for the team and for South Africa. He has a very high pain threshold."

Veteran Neil McKenzie will remain with the squad, while Johan Botha will skipper the side in place of Smith.

Arthur is confident that the team will still be able to perform well, despite the absence of Smith.

"It does give us an opportunity with our ODI side. As I have always said, our one-day side is still a work in progress, it is still a young side, and we are giving an opportunity to some younger guys to stake a claim."