New South African coach Eric Simons sees the upcoming two tournaments in Morocco and Sri Lanka as a tough baptism of fire for himself and the team.

"We are going into major tournaments straight out of an off season. It is a concern that we will only have the two warm-up games at Centurion over the weekend and a warm-up game in Morocco to prepare. The two training camps have however helped the players get into form", he said during the second training camp taking place at Centurion.

Shaun Pollock, Allan Donald, Nicky Boje and Paul Adams have been playing in England. Makhaya Ntini looks as fit as ever and in the nets Lance Klusener, Herschelle Gibbs and Jacques Kallis look as if they are in the middle of the season. The remaining players look fit but relaxed after the off season and all are keen to tackle the long hard season ahead.

For Simons and Pollock the World Cup is the main focus but both see each game as a new event. Winning the test series against Bangladesh, Sri Lanka and Pakistan is part of the overall objective to become the best team in the world in both forms of the game.

The two away tournaments coming up are part of the process towards winning the World Cup. "We are going to Morocco and Sri Lanka to win but at this stage it will not be the end of the world if we do not. We are looking to build a team and form some tactical ideas. The team also have to get to know me and I have to get to know the team", said Simons.

He added: "We have some key players in the side that are crucial to our success. There are also a lot of quality players from which we can pick a number of different eleven and still be at strength. The ideal is to get the best possible balance on to the field".

The team are not only concentrating on the hard skills of the game. Batting, bowling and fielding skills are important but the soft skills go hand in hand. Team spirit, inter player relationships, motivation and mental toughness are areas that the team have recognise as being just as important. During the two training camps sport psychologist, Tim Southey, has spent time with the team and individuals to improve this area of their game.

The two warm-up games will be played at Centurion against a select Academy team starting at 10:00 am on Saturday and 09:30 am on Sunday.

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