England will defend their ranking as the top Test team in the world when they come up against a strong South African side in the first of three Test matches at the Oval on Thursday. The pre-match build-up has concentrated on two outstanding fast bowling attacks — but, as England fast bowler James Anderson and South African all-rounder Jacques Kallis pointed out on Tuesday, the bowlers will have to get past some outstanding batsmen. “It’s the two best teams in the world,” said Anderson. “Both bowling attacks have been successful over the past 12 to 18 months but if you look at both batting line-ups they’re potentially as strong as well. It’s going to be a clash of two really good teams.”
Meawhile Kallis added: “It’s going to be an interesting battle to see who comes out on top. Both sides have got good batters as well. It’s going to be a fantastic series.”
South Africa edged England 2-1 in 2008, the last time the two teams met in England, but England have been unbeaten at home since then, rising to number one in the world rankings under captain Andrew Strauss and coach Andy Flower. However, South Africa have not lost an away series since they were beaten in Sri Lanka in 2006. They are ranked third but will take the top place from England if they win the series. Anderson, Stuart Broad and Tim Bresnan have become a formidable fast bowling force for England.
But South Africa have some heavy artillery as well in Dale Steyn, the world’s top-ranked bowler, the tall Morne Morkel and the accurate Vernon Philander, who has taken 51 wickets at an average of 14.15 since making his debut against Australia last November. England may have an advantage in spin bowling, where off-spinner Graeme Swann has a superior record to South African leg-spinner Imran Tahir, who has yet to make a major impact at Test level. South Africa will go into the series with minimal preparation.
They had a three-day camp in Switzerland, during which they climbed mountains and got out of their normal ‘comfort zones’, followed by a two-day match against Somerset and a three-day match against Kent. Both matches were affected by rain and the tourists were unable to dominate against two relatively weak teams. But Kallis is convinced the preparation has been ideal and that South Africa are ready to hit form from the start of the series. South Africa have never won in 10 matches at the Oval and have lost all three Tests at the venue since returning to international cricket in 1991.
Probable teams and officials for the first
Test between England and South Africa starting at the Oval here on Thursday:
England (from): Andrew Strauss (capt), Alastair Cook, Jonathan Trott, Kevin Pietersen, Ian Bell, Ravi Bopara, Matt Prior (wkt), Tim Bresnan, Stuart Broad, Graeme Swann, James Anderson, Steven Finn, Graham Onions
South Africa (likely): Graeme Smith (capt), Alviro Petersen, Hashim Amla, Jacques Kallis, AB de Villiers (wkt), Jacques Rudolph, JP Duminy, Vernon Philander, Dale Steyn, Morne Morkel, Imran Tahir.
Umpires: Steve Davis (AUS) and Asad Rauf (PAK)
TV umpire: Kumar Dharmasena (SRI)
Match referee: Jeff Crowe (NZL)
Pietersen out of England T20 squad
Kevin Pietersen’s dream of helping England defend their World Twenty20 title appeared to have been dashed when he was left out Wednesday of an initial 30-man squad for this year’s edition in Sri Lanka. Pietersen, England’s man of the tournament when they won the World Twenty20 in the Caribbean two years ago — their first major limited overs title — recently retired from all white ball internationals. The South Africa-born batsman wanted to continue to play Twenty20 matches while opting out of 50 overs per side one-day international fixtures. But England said the terms of his central contract meant he had to be available for both of those formats and that the only alternative was to quit all limited overs international cricket, which he duly did. Team officials were concerned that if they granted Pietersen his wish England, now on a 10-match winning streak in ODIs, would see several other leading players also quit one-dayers. Pietersen, who remains one of the first-choice picks for the Test side, suggested last week he would return to one-day internationals if something could be done about making sure he wasn’t burnt out by England’s packed schedule. But the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) held firm to their stance that players cannot “pick and choose” which limited overs matches they play in. England’s most recent Twenty20, a seven-wicket win over the West Indies at Trent Bridge last month, saw Alex Hales make 99 in the opener’s spot recently vacated by Pietersen. Hales was duly included in a 30-man squad where his Nottinghamshire colleague Stuart Broad remains captain. Seam bowler Broad, a talented lower order batsman, was one of seven survivors from the team that beat Australia in the 2010 final in Barbados along with batsmen Michael Lumb, Craig Kieswetter, Eoin Morgan, all-rounders Luke Wright and Tim Bresnan and off-spinner Graeme Swann.
