Arthur excited over Nel return

South Africa may be without the injured Dale Steyn for the third Test against England, but coach Mickey Arthur is awaiting the return of a fired-up Andre Nel at Edgbaston.

"Any time Andre [Nel] plays for South Africa he's fired up," Arthur told the BBC. "I can't wait to see him bowl hard. I think he's going to do really well." Nel last played a Test against the West Indies at home in January. Nel, known for his aggressive approach, had been controversially dropped from the Test team to India in favour of Charl Langeveldt.

"We've backed him a huge amount over the last couple of months and I've got a feeling he is going to come through this one fantastically," Arthur said. "It just shows that when you plan there has to be a queue and some succession in place.

"We have the ability now to lose one guy and be able to bring back a guy who is a hardened Test-match campaigner. So we are fortunate to do that, but that's how we structured our team."

Nel goes into the Test having warmed up against a Bangladesh A team in the tour game at New Road, in which he picked up three wickets and his maiden first-class fifty.

"Andre is a good tourist, but he certainly doesn't like not playing," Arthur told the Daily Telegraph. "He wants to be involved all the time and there is a lot of pent-up energy and aggression there that will hopefully come out at Edgbaston. Every time he has bowled in the nets on this tour, he has wanted to prove to me that he belongs and that he should be in the team.

"Andre has got much better of late in learning how to channel his aggression in the right direction," Arthur said. "If he can, it gives him his competitive edge and I never want to take that away from him."

Nel has played just one Test against England - at Centurion in 2005. He had figures of 6 for 81 in England's first innings; the match, though, ended in a draw.