Although Smith has his own issues to deal with South Africa appear to have plenty more. They are just coming off a forgettable home tour against England in which they lost the Test, one-day and T20 series to the tourists. This time they will be hoping to bounce back, first in the 20-over format, before also improving in the three 50-over games. Whatever happens, Smith concedes that playing the Proteas is always tough.

Smith accepts that he may receive a hostile reception from the South African crowds when he takes to the field in the coming weeks. Australia’s first assignment against South Africa is a Twenty20 international at the Wanderers in Johannesburg on Friday night. They will then move to Paarl for the second game, before concluding the 20-over leg of a trip with a showdown at Newlands in Cape Town, where Smith’s world fell apart back in 2018. The star batsman says fans are entitled to say what they like.

Star Australia batsman Steve Smith says he is happy to be back in South Africa and wants to put the past behind him when they face the Proteas in a six-match tour that starts on Friday. The last time the 30-year-old addressed the media in this country was two years ago when he was captain and he had to deal with heavy questioning in the midst of one of cricket’s biggest scandals - the ball-tampering affair that rocked Australian sport.

With Buchanan currently one of the shining lights in South African football, there are already calls from section of fans and the media for the player to receive a Bafana Bafana call-up. He is also undoubtedly going to be a contender for Midfielder of the Season. But the player himself modestly plays down these murmurings.

During his time at Chiefs, Buchanan never really fitted in. He spent two years at the Soweto giants where he worked under their former coach Steve Komphela, but only managed four starts. Asked whether he wished he could have taken his current form back to his time at Naturena, the soft-spoken midfielder felt it would not have mattered because the two parties had contrasting styles.

Buchanan is currently preparing with his Maritzburg teammates to face up to former club Bloemfontein Celtic in the Nedbank Cup last 16 on Saturday. It was at Siwelele where he initially made his name, prompting Amakhosi to swoop and sign him. Even though he was a key figure during his time with the Free State side, he still believes that he has never had a season like this one, where all the elements have come together. He has played in 16 out of Maritzburg’s 22 games and is one of the first names on Tinkler’s starting list.

Former Kaizer Chiefs midfielder Keagan Buchanan says his current season at Maritzburg United has been the best of his career thus far. It is Buchanan’s second season in Pietermaritzburg, although he only played 123 minutes last term due to a career-threatening knee injury. After a slow start to 2019/20, he has now found his groove and is delighted to be back playing regularly under the guidance of Eric Tinkler.

Clark emphasises that he is not going to prioritise one competition over the other referring to the league where Lidoda Duvha is struggling. The coach further adds that he is not going to make changes to the squad for the sake of just giving fringe players a run. Clark wants to maintain some consistency in his selection to try and get consistency of positive results.

The former assistant coach also backed his midfielder Thabiso Mokoena who conceded a late own goal against Orlando Pirates in the league this past Sunday. Clark says the player has everyone’s support in the team and there is nothing Mokoena could have done in that situation. Clark also took a little dig at Pirates saying they are going on about a fluke goal like they planned it in training.

Black Leopards are preparing for their Nedbank last 16 round clash against ABC Motsepe league side Amavarara FC in Thohoyandou on Friday night (20:00). Amavarara defeated Super Eagles in the opening round while Leopards saw off North West University. Clark says the competition is meant to boost minnows and allows them to be even overconfident. Clark adds that it will always be tough facing sides from lower leagues.