'Amla is everything you want in a Test player`

Johannesburg [South Africa], Jan. 10 (ANI): Australian skipper Steve Smith has heaped praise on veteran South African batsman Hashim Amla, saying he is everything one wants in a Test cricketer. Amla will on Thursday become the eighth Proteas player to reach 100 Test caps when his side take on Sri Lanka in the third and final Test of the three-match series in Johannesburg. "To play 100 Tests is an incredible feat and it means you're doing so many things right on and off the field,"Sport24 quoted Smith as saying. "Those are the kind of players that come on once every now and again. He's done a terrific job for South Africa and we wish him all the best in his 100 Test match and all the bets into the future as well." "He's incredibly consistent, he knows his game incredibly well in all conditions and he occupies the crease for long periods of time and scores big scores ... he's everything you want in a Test player," he added. Labellling the 33-year-old South African as one of the nicest guys on the cricketing circuit, Smith said he has always heard great things about the former. Amla joins Jacques Kallis, Mark Boucher, Graeme Smith, Shaun Pollock, AB de Villiers, Gary Kirsten and Makhaya Ntini in the '100 club'. Former Australian skipper Michael Clarke has also admitted that he hated captaining when used to be at the crease. "I always hated having to captain against him because he's so hard to set field to," he said. "He bases his game around a great defence and he finds ways to be successful across all three formats." "The game of cricket is hard so he goes through some tough times but it shows his character to be able to sustain that, get through that and turn things around," he added. Amla remains the only South African to have scored a triple century when he scored 311* against England at the Oval back in 2012. Amla has played 17 Test matches against Australia and has scored at an healthy average of 45.93, including five centuries. (ANI)