Smith in fitness race after elbow surgery

South African cricket captain Graeme Smith went under the knife in Cape Town on Thursday in an attempt to remedy a long-standing tennis elbow problem.

Smith is expected to have a rehabilitation period of 10-12 weeks and coach Mickey Arthur is hoping to have him ready for the ICC Champions Trophy in South Africa starting on September 24.

The earliest Smith is likely to be able to resume practice will be mid-August, if his recuperation goes well, and it is hoped that he will be able to begin with shadow batting about eight weeks after the operation.

Smith has played through the pain of the injury in the past year, having pain-killing injections at times, and trying to avoid surgery, although it was realised that an operation was the best way to go in the long term.

His injury is similar to one suffered by team mate Jacques Kallis, for which he eventually had an operation ahead of the tour to Australia in 2005/06.

Smith's injury woes were compounded in the past summer when the little fingers on both his hands were fractured in separate incidents by Australian fast bowler Mitchell Johnson. The first injury saw him miss the one-day series in Australia and the second meant he missed the third Test against the Aussies in Cape Town.

After the Champions Trophy, Smith is eligible to represent the Cape Cobras in the first Champions League, scheduled for October 8-23 in India.

The Proteas' next assignment after that will be the home series against England, with their first head-to-head action the first of two Pro20 internationals at the Wanderers on Friday, November 13. The teams will also play five One-Day Internationals and four Tests.

An off-field event the national players are looking forward to is the gala awards dinner in Johannesburg on Tuesday.

Smith is one of five contenders for the cricketer of the year prize, along with Ashwell Prince, Dale Steyn, AB de Villiers and JP Duminy. Smith has also been nominated for the Test cricketer of the year and players' player of the year awards.

Find of the year Wayne Parnell will fight it out with spinning all-rounder Roelof van der Merwe for the newcomer of the year award.

Parnell, who had a short stint with English county side Kent ahead of the World Twenty20, will return there in July for a month, while Herschelle Gibbs, who also played in the World Twenty20, will join Glamorgan from next week.

Gibbs, eligible to play for both the IPL-winning Deccan Chargers and the Cobras in the Champions League in October, will be representing the former side.