"He’s spent too much time in Australia" - South African legend takes a dig at Michael Vaughan over WTC final remarks

Former South Africa skipper Graeme Smith hit back at Michael Vaughan for the latter's remarks on the Proteas' road to the World Test Championship (WTC) final. South Africa will play Australia in the summit clash of the recent WTC cycle.

Following the Proteas' qualification for the final, Vaughan questioned the quality of the sides they had beaten to get to the final. Speaking to Sportsboom, Smith jumped in defense of his former side. He also expects them to beat Australia to seal the WTC title. He said (via IOL):

"I love Vaughny [Vaughan], but he’s spent too much time in Australia. The Proteas dealt with what was in front of them. No bigger motivation than to beat Australia in the final and hold that trophy. It’ll silence the critics once and for all."

South Africa qualified for the WTC final after a thrilling two-wicket victory over Pakistan at the Centurion. They registered home series wins against Pakistan and Sri Lanka and away victories against the West Indies and Bangladesh. Australia, who are the defending champions, defeated India in the recently concluded Border-Gavaskar Trophy 3-1 to qualify for the final.

"It’s difficult to comment without much detail" - Graeme Smith on new format for Test cricket impacting South Africa

With Vaughan also stressing the need for a two-tier format for Test cricket, Smith said that six to eight teams were needed to keep the format going. He explained (via the aforementioned source):

"It’s difficult to comment without much detail. Will there be six or five teams in Tier 1? Looking at the future schedules, it seems decisions might already be made behind the scenes. For Test cricket to thrive, you need 6–8 strong teams, but balancing that with T20’s growth in new regions like the USA and the Olympics will be a challenge."