First day at Centurion washed out

South Africa v England - no play (rain)
Scorecard

Rain scuppered all prospects of play on the first day of the final Test at a soggy Centurion. First the covers came off ... then they went back on again. Then they came off once more ... only to be put back on again. And there, Boycott-like, they stubbornly remained as frustration reigned for South Africa, who were handed no chance to set about levelling a series they currently trail 2-1.

When play does commence, South Africa will need to go for broke, and the forecast is for better conditions from Saturday onwards. With early starts available to make up for lost time, a result is still more than possible on a green pitch which could favour the bowlers. But the South African captain, Graeme Smith, warned that appearances could be deceptive. "The pitch has played pretty well all year," Smith said. "It might look a bit juicy, but it will probably play pretty good."

England will be encouraged by a glance at the results on the Centurion pitch from the four provincial matches there this year: all draws. This injury-hit squad has a very real prospect of becoming the first England team to win a Test series in South Africa since 1964-65, so a draw would suit them fine - so they had little cause for complaint as they watched the rain come down all day.

South Africa (probable) 1 Graeme Smith (capt), 2 Herschelle Gibbs, 3 Jacques Rudolph, 4 Jacques Kallis, 5 AB de Villiers, 6 Mark Boucher (wk), 7 Andrew Hall, 8 Nicky Boje, 9 Shaun Pollock, 10 Makhaya Ntini, 11 Andre Nel.

England (from) 1 Marcus Trescothick, 2 Andrew Strauss, 3 Robert Key, 4 Michael Vaughan (capt), 5 Graham Thorpe, 6 Andrew Flintoff, 7 Geraint Jones (wk), 8 Ashley Giles, 9 Jon Lewis, 10 Matthew Hoggard, 11 Steve Harmison, 12 Simon Jones, 13 Paul Collingwood.