South Africa opener Graeme Smith has been withdrawn from the Champions League Twenty20 tournament to fully recover from knee surgery in time for the international season.
Cricket South Africa says that although Smith's 6-8 week recovery period following last week's operation on his right knee will be over before the Sept. 23 start of the Champions League, South Africa's test captain will miss the event as "a precaution."
Team manager Mohammed Moosajee says "we feel that he will not be match ready ... hopefully he will recover in time for the start of a very busy international summer."
The Proteas host Australia in two tests, three ODIs and two Twenty20s from Oct. 13, followed by a three-Test and five-ODI series against Sri Lanka.
