Kallis and Smith set for Lord's

Shane Jabaar asses Jacques Kallis' elbow

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South African team physio Shane Jabaar is confident skipper Graeme Smith and key all-rounder Jacques Kallis will be fully fit for the first npower Test against England at Lord’s on July 10.

Smith has been stepping up his fitness programme after a hamstring problem suffered on Indian Premier League duty while the Proteas have been in action in their first warm-up match of the tour against Somerset at Taunton.

And the 27-year-old had a further net on the outfield at the end of the second day’s play.

Jabaar expects Smith to play against Middlesex at Uxbridge in a three-day game starting on Friday.

He said: “Graeme is coming along very nicely. From a fitness point of view, we’re still working on things but, from a hamstring point of view I think he’s out of danger.

“I don’t think he’ll have a problem. We’re just making sure he’s well conditioned so that he doesn’t just participate but actually competes when he goes to play.

“We’ve no concern that he is going to come through a little bit of a fitness test before he plays a game at Uxbridge and he’ll be fine. He’s on track to be playing.”

Jabaar added: “Is there any doubt Graeme will play at Lord’s? No. Obviously we want him to be playing. That’s the ultimate test.

“We want to see him running around on the field and how he responds to instinctively running down the wicket for a quick single or fielding the ball or things like that.

“I think what he’s done so far gives us a lot of confidence to say he won’t break down.”

Kallis did not field on the second day against Somerset after being struck on the elbow yesterday evening by a delivery from former England paceman Andy Caddick before retiring hurt on 160.

Kallis looked in ominous form when taking apart the Somerset attack at Taunton before his nasty injury

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But Jabaar is confident he will be able to play at Uxbridge and test out the bowling side of his game before facing Michael Vaughan’s side.

He said: “Jacques got a nasty blow on his right elbow which was very badly swollen yesterday.

“It also affected the nerve running down into his thumb and his forefinger.

“That is why he was struggling to control his bat a little bit.

“He was obviously sore from the shock of getting hit but that settled down. What really affected him was that the nerve got a bit of a bump on it

“He has got a big bruise there at the moment. We’re working on it and we don’t think it’s serious enough for him to see anyone else for a special investigation yet.

“We’ll see how he responds but I think he’ll be ready to bowl for the warm-up game in Uxbridge. Right now it is nothing serious. There was just no point in him fielding or bowling today.”

South Africa amassed 515 for three declared and then reached 56 for one in their second innings when not enforcing the follow-on after Somerset were dismissed for 249.

Paceman Morne Morkel took three wickets in his first appearance since suffering a hamstring injury when in action for Yorkshire in May.

And he believes he will be at his peak for the Test opener.

He said: “The timing wasn’t quite there but I’ll take it. There were a couple of balls that came out quite nicely but for me today the objective was not too try and bowl too quick.

“The idea was just to get that rhythm going and get that game time under my belt.

“I was also playing around with the lengths I bowled as well to find out which work because we had the runs on the board.

“But I know I can bowl a little bit quicker. I think the next game against Middlesex at the weekend plus nets will be more than enough time for me to get ready for the first Test.”