Smith facing test on back injury

South Africa captain Graeme Smith will test his back injury before the third Test against England on Wednesday and said his team will look to pressurise the hosts after detecting vulnerabilities.

Smith hurt his back playing against Bangladesh A at the weekend. He did not take any part in practice on Monday and said he would not be batting on Tuesday either. If his condition does not improve adequately Jean-Paul Duminy will play.

"I have a bit of back problem that's been niggling me since the Bangladesh game," Smith told reporters ahead of the test at Edgbaston.

"I won't bat today because I don't want to do anything today that will affect tomorrow but I am taking treatment and it is improving. I will come early tomorrow and try it out. I like to think I will be fit enough to play"

Smith was not surprised by England's decision to omit Steve Harmison from the team for the third Test but said he was taken aback by their indecision on selection for the second Test when little-known seamer Darren Pattinson was given a debut.

That was followed by a 10-wicket win for South Africa that gave them a 1-0 lead in the four-match series and a public spat between England captain Michael Vaughan and national selector Geoff Miller.

Smith, who indicated his team will target some of England's out-of-form players, also said he was surprised that nobody took responsibility for the controversial selection.

England have recalled all rounder Paul Collingwood, who has not scored a Test century in more than a year and who has also not made 100 first-class runs this season. Wicketkeeper Tim Ambrose and skipper Vaughan are also short of runs.

"As an opposition when you see the other team is under pressure it does benefit you," Smith said.

"We know that if we can play really good cricket for the first couple of days maybe we can open up some wounds and put certain players under a lot of pressure in this test match

"(But) England are a competitive team and have bounced back many times and have the players to do that so we have respect for that and we know we have to play well to make these things count for us."