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Series of serious questions

First Eng-SATest starts today

AFP, Port Elizabeth
|^1 Cricket
South Africa and England start a five-Test series at St George's Park Friday 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 inbetween.
South Africa are likely to be without Nicky Boje, their vicecaptain 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 allrounder 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 unfried fast bowler Dale Steyn will make his Test debut.
FROM PAGE 13
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 Kalils, 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.
South African assistant coach Vincent Barnes noted after coaching the South Africa A side in Potchefstroom that the home bowlers had made better use of the conditions than the Englishmen.
While the England bowlers did not hit top form in Potchefetroom. it was the side's poor batting that caused most concern in the England camp.
England’s top order batsmen struggled, showing the effects of a two-and-half month break from first-class cricket since the end of the English season.
Mark Butcher's place in the important number three batting pos i tion is likely to be debated.
Three innings in South Africa have brought.just nine runs, while rival Robert Key slammed 87 in a low-keyone-day warm-upgame.
Butcher's experience and appetite for the big occasion give him an edge but the tour selectors will be worried that both Butcher and Graham Thorpe failed twice in Potchefetroom.
England captain Michael Vaughan, who made a second-innings century in Potchefetroom, acknowledged that the team performed poorly against South Africa A and expects a higher level of inten: sity in the TEst match as England seek to extend a sequence of seven successiveTest wins.
England, beaten in two previous series in South Africa, have climbed to second place in the world Test rankings, a position long occupied by South Africa, while South Africa have slipped to sixth.
Since the sides shared an exciting series in England in 2003, South Africa have lost away series against Pakistan, Sri Lanka and India and drawn against New Zeal and.
They have an impressive home record, however, and beat the West Indies 3-0 in a four-match series last season.
Smith said his team did not seq themselves as underdogs, despite recent poor results.
"Ufe're very confident, we've worked hard and we're backing-ourselves to win in dur home condh tions."
TEAMS
SOUTH AFRICA (from): Graeme Smith (captain), AB de Villiers', Jacques Rudolph, Jacques Kallis, Hashim Amla, Boeta Dippenaar, Zander de Bruyn, Shaun Pollock, Andrew Hall, Nicky Boje, Thami Tsolekile, Makhaya Ntini, Dale Steyn.
ENGLAND (from): MichaelVaughan (captain), Marcus Trescothick! Andrew Strauss, Mark Butcher, Graham Thorpe. Andrew Flintoff, Geraint Jones, Ashley Giles, Matthew Hoggard, Simon Jones; Steve Harmison, Robert Key, Paul Collingwood, James Anderson;
Gareth Batty, Chris Read.
Umpires: Simon Taufel and Darrell Hair (both Austral!an).