BBC Sport has teamed up with fans on the TMS message boards to give you a fan's eye view of international cricket.

Each week, we will be choosing one supporter to sound off about his or her team.

This week Michael Potts, 26, who lives in London, gives his views on South Africa.

Who have been your best players in the last year?
Makhaya Ntini, Graeme Smith and Jacques Kallis.

And your worst?
Chris Adams, Robin Peterson, Neil McKenzie and the guy who does the Duckworth Lewis calculations!

Sum up the last year in one word:
Improving

Allan Donald is arguably South Africa's greatest cricketer

Now sum it up in 50:
It started disastrously going out of the World Cup in the opening round, and Shaun Pollock getting sacked. But things have been getting a lot better. The team played very well in the Test series in England, had a good one-day series against Pakistan and finished off strongly against West Indies.

Which South African ground is your favourite to watch international cricket at and why?
Newlands, with the backdrop of Table Mountain. The crowd is always fantastic.

Are there any promising youngsters in your squad?
Jacques Rudolph is starting to establishing himself as a regular. Other up and coming players include Mondi Zondeki, Mfuneko Ngam, Justin Ontong and Imraan Khan.

Player your team couldn't cope without?
Jacques Kallis

Which opposition players do your fans most respect?
Steve Waugh, Brian Lara and Muttiah Muralitharan.

Newlands is one of the most picturesque venues in the world

If you could choose one of these to play for South Africa, which would it be?
Muttiah Muralitharan

Best moment as a South Africa fan:
The second Test against Australia in 1993/94, at the Sydney Cricket Ground. This was an amazingly unlikely victory as we had been bowled out for 169 in the first innings, Shane Warne taking 56-7. Somehow we managed to win by five runs. It was our Headingley.

Biggest let down:
Tying with Australia and going out of the World Cup in 1999.

Funniest thing seen at a match:
The Sarwan and McGrath spat last year.

Favourite all-time player:
Allan Donald

Worst player even seen:
Chris Adams

Was not winning the World Cup seen as a major failure? Was it right to sack Shaun Pollock?
Yes. South Africa needed to redeem themselves after a poor display against Australia the year before and bury the Hansie Cronje memory. All the signs were there in the pre-World Cup games that the team was playing well. It was the home competition and everyone was expecting us to win it like the Rugby World Cup in 1995.

Captain Graeme Smith is maturing into an inspirational leader

It was also the right move to sack Shaun. The problem with him was that at times he captained by numbers. Everyone knew when he was going to change the bowlers and it was easy to predict the batting line up. The team was just too predictable. He also lacked the personal skills to lift the team when they needed it and get that extra bit out of them. It took a lot of guts to sack him as there was no one else in the frame.

Has Graeme Smith surpassed your expectations as a captain?
Yes, I thought he might be good, but he has been a lot better than I could have hoped for. I was very impressed with the way he performed on the UK tour; he demands commitment and is bringing back pride, hard work and professionalism to the South African team.

Which country has the best long term chance of replacing Australia as world number one: South Africa or India?
South Africa, they are very very strong at home and are playing better away. India have had great results against a weak Australian team, and they are a strong one-day side, but they still haven't won a series away from home for years, and probably don't have the bowling attack to be number one.