PORT ELIZABETH, 16 December 2004 — South Africa and England start a five-Test series at St. George’s Park tomorrow with question marks over both teams.
South Africa, hoping to end a sequence of disappointing results, have worries about the fitness of key players, while England are short of form going into one of the most intensive Test series of all time.
Five Tests will be played in the space of 40 days with no other matches in between.
South Africa are likely to be without Nicky Boje, their vice-captain and only spin bowler, who is struggling to prove his fitness after a recent operation to remove a cyst from his left shoulder, while star all-rounder Jacques Kallis may be unable to bowl because of an ankle injury. The balance of the South African side depends on the final fitness assessments.
There is no other spinner in the squad, and no-one on standby, so if Boje does not play South Africa will be forced to field an all-seam attack, backed by the occasional spin of Graeme Smith and Jacques Rudolph.
If Kallis is unable to bowl, South Africa will have to leave out one of the batsmen in their 13-man squad in order to accommodate an extra bowler, virtually ensuring that untried fast bowler Dale Steyn will make his Test debut.
Steyn, 21, was picked for the squad after just seven first-class games. When he reported for a training camp in Pretoria last weekend it was the first time he had met senior players Shaun Pollock and Kallis, while when the side assembled in Port Elizabeth Tuesday it was the first time he had visited the coastal city. With fast bowling expected to dominate the series, South African coach Ray Jennings found an unorthodox way to get his batsmen used to pace again after their recent series on the slow pitches of India.
He had Davis Cup tennis player Wesley Whitehouse serving a red tennis ball at them at speeds beyond the capability of even the fastest bowlers.
Steve Harmison, currently the top-ranked bowler in world Test cricket, will lead a strong England pace attack but a key factor will be how quickly Harmison, Matthew Hoggard, Andrew Flintoff and either Simon Jones or James Anderson find the right length to get the most advantage from what is expected to be a well-grassed St George’s Park surface.
