Smith questions Philander's fitness

Former South Africa captain Graeme Smith has questioned whether star player Vernon Philander is fit enough to hold down a regular spot in the Proteas Test team.

Philander, the world's ninth ranked Test bowler and a veteran of 46 Tests, was the toast of South African cricket a month ago after his all-round display led the Proteas to a thumping win over England at Trent Bridge.

But his late withdrawal from the current Test at Old Trafford due to a back injury is the continuation of a trend that Smith believes calls into question the 32-year-old's durability.

"He can’t seem to make it through series; his body is maybe not fit enough," Smith said on the BBC’s Test Match Special radio programme.

"It’s been an issue but it’s becoming serious, more of an issue. You’re trying to build a team and if your senior players can’t get through tours then you’ve got a problem.

"He took a blow at Lord’s and it took a crane to get him back onto the field. There’s been too many times where you’re fighting to get him onto the field.

"If you think about South Africa’s line-up, unless Philander is fit they can’t go in without the extra bowler.

"Him not being fit influences a vast amount of strategy in terms of selection."

Speaking to ESPN, Smith went even further by saying Philander's multiple injury absences and the disruption they cause to the team "raises questions about whether he is fit enough to be picked in the first place".

"He needs to do a lot more work in his time away from the team to make sure this doesn't keep happening," Smith said.

"Sometimes you need to be a little bit harder on Vern. His skill levels are there but you need to get him into the contest sometimes.

"One of the big issues for him is fitness and he does need to take a look at it. He is at that phase of his career where if he doesn't, he could fade away pretty quickly.

"It makes it very difficult for Faf (du Plessis, the captain) to build a team. You want your senior player to be respected and you can't afford Vernon to not be finishing a series."

Smith's frustration stems from his own experience as Philander's captain between 2011 and 2014. The right-armer missed matches in three of his 10 series under Smith and pushed through a back injury to play the second Test of their 2014 series against Australia, which was Smith's last.

Philander's year has been dotted with a string of different injuries and illnesses; he suffered a groin strain in April, an ankle problem in June, a viral infection last week that limited his impact on the third Test and now the back issue that ruled him out in Manchester.

Speaking after Philander's match-winning double of 5-82 and 96 runs in Nottingham last month, du Plessis jokingly labelled him "the new Jacques Kallis" in reference to the legendary Proteas allrounder.

But the skipper this week added that Philander's ability to bat at No.7 could significantly alter the make-up of the XI, creating a selection dilemma when he isn't fully fit.

"Vernon at 100 percent fit, means we can look at playing three seamers and play seven batters," du Plessis said before the Old Trafford Test.

"Vernon at 90 percent doesn’t mean you can play three seamers because you don’t want to be in a position where you have a seamer break down and then you only have two, because that is basically the Test match over right there."