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KP set for hot reception - Smith
Cricket, 11:39, December 13, 2009 ,
South Africa captain Graeme Smith believes England star Kevin Pietersen will receive a hostile reception in the first Test next week.
The Proteas begin their battle with England in Centurion next Wednesday - the first of four Tests with Andrew Strauss's men over the next month.
Pietersen was born in South Africa and played first-class for Natal in 1997 before moving to England following a falling-out with the South African cricket authorities over the racial quota system.
The 29-year-old pulled no punches in his criticism of the South African board when he opted to throw his lot in with England, and was booed during England's last tour to the southern African nation back in 2005.
He responded with a mountain of runs and has been England's best batsmen over the past five years, scoring runs in all forms of the game.
But now that the Hampshire man is back in the country of his birth, Smith feels the Proteas' fans will not forget his past comments.
"He obviously gets a hostile reception from South African fans because he's made a lot of remarks about the country that I don't think he's ever apologised for," he told 5 Live's Sportsweek programme.
"It's hard for people just to wash away those things and I think that's why people still give him a hard time.
"It creates a little bit of tension towards him. Our job is to play the game. From my perspective there's certainly no tension going into the game.
"It's up to the players to get on with it. You want the game of cricket to be remembered for some fantastic cricket. That's how I want cricket to be viewed by the fans and by the media.
"We've all moved on and got on with our lives. He (Pietersen) has really performed well in his international career. There's a cricket respect there."