Captain Graeme Smith made a successful comeback from a hamstring injury in South Africa’s second match of their England tour against Middlesex at Uxbridge on Friday.  

Smith, who sustained the injury in Rajasthan Royal’s semi-final in the Indian Premier League in March, scored 35 but more important was the 130 minutes he spent at the crease against the county team.

Left-hander Smith, who made double centuries in the first two Tests when a new captain on the 2003 England tour, had always targeted the Middlesex match to give him sufficient match practice before the all-important first Test against England at Lord’s on July 10.

“I'm happy to have passed all my fitness tests and that I've been able to play my first innings in a match for almost two months,” Smith said in his Bigstarcricket.com diary.

“It was good mentally and in terms of my body to spend some time at the crease, in the match against Middlesex. You can do all the rehab in the world but until you get out there you don't really know how you are going to be.”