England have South Africa in their sights

It is one of those unfortunate truisms of sport, that the better a side becomes, the more the quality of the opposition is downplayed. If the naysayers had their way, England's astonishing summer of success would already have been written off as a statistical anomaly - New Zealand, they would argue, rocked up with 14 semi-fit players and consequently found themselves an entire bowling attack short of competitiveness, and as for West Indies ... well, enough said already.

The sportsman's stock reply to such carping is that old cliché: "You can only beat the side that's put in front of you", and that is something that England have been doing with alacrity all year. In fact, they have become so adept at putting dishevelled sides in their places that, all of a sudden, the prospect of a first series win in South Africa for 40 years is becoming more attainable than anyone would ever have dared imagine.

Whisper it, but the South Africans are in a bit of a mess all of a sudden. Through thick and thin for the past decade, they have been stoically tracking Australia as the second-best side in the world, but that is no longer the case. According to the ICC's rankings, they have slumped to fifth in one-day cricket, and sixth in Tests, and while the talent at their disposal is as potent as ever, the cohesion of the side has slipped out the side exit.

Twelve months ago, you could not have foreseen the situation in which England and South Africa now find themselves. After two Tests of the 2003 summer, Graeme Smith had walloped 621 runs in three innings, and was being hailed as the flintiest and most hard-bitten Test captain since Steve Waugh. Michael Vaughan, by contrast, was brand-new to the job and as wide-eyed as a cat in a microwave. Only one man seemed destined to pop.

Since then, however, or more accurately, since England's barnstorming victory at The Oval last September, the fortunes of the respective teams have shot off at tangents. "We would be lucky to be called club cricketers," Smith fumed after a traumatic defeat in the second one-day match in Colombo last week - one doesn't dare speculate how he felt yesterday, as South Africa surrendered the series with two matches to spare.

It seems that the events of the last year have been all too much, too soon for young Smith, who, let us not forget, is still only 23. Despite a lengthy closed season, he has not yet recovered from being outpsyched by Stephen Fleming in New Zealand last winter, and while he struggles to redefine his authority, his team has ploughed into the rocks.

Perhaps most inappropriately of all, Smith recently saw fit to turn both barrels on his opening partner and acknowledged superstar of one-day cricket, Herschelle Gibbs. It must be admitted, Gibbs had not been having a good tour. For the record, he had managed 11 runs in four innings since returning from injury, although this included a first-ball lbw against Chaminda Vaas, who, when he nails his inswinger early in a batsman's innings, is perhaps the toughest bowler in the world to negotiate.

But you simply couldn't imagine a similar approach being taken with Marcus Trescothick, the most Gibbs-esque of England's batsman. He has endured and surmounted far lengthier periods in the doldrums than Gibbs's four barren innings, but not once has his confidence been undermined from within the England set-up. Theirs is a team ethos that transcends all questions of ego, which brings me to England's squad announcement, and the strange case of Paul Collingwood.

Collingwood's inclusion in the tour party for South Africa was one of those slap-your-forehead moments, when you knew you knew you'd forgotten somebody, but couldn't for the life of you remember who. The official reason for his inclusion is pretty spurious - is he really going to be an adequate understudy to Andrew Flintoff? - but when you take into account England's consistency of selection, there was really no other man for the job.

Collingwood was remarkably unlucky this season, with injury and with timing - had he been an opening batsman, capable of standing in for Vaughan at Lord's, Andrew Strauss might never have got his chance against New Zealand, Nasser Hussain might now be a member of the 100-cap club, and Robert Key and Ian Bell might still be awaiting their invitations. Unadulterated bad luck shouldn't be held against a batsman if they are sawn off mid-innings - and nor, it seems, if they are sawn off mid-season.

Given the gruelling itinerary, a more pragmatic selection would have been an extra seam bowler - although with Jon Lewis on standby, that option still remains. But the message that comes across loud and clear is that England are settled and ready for the challenge. But if South Africa's current form is to be believed, they are doing everything they can to roll out the red carpet.