Formidable but not feared

The Guardian's Vic Marks says forget the Test rankings, England can prosper in this series.

Look at the figures – if you can bear it – since the end of apartheid. In South Africa on three tours England have played 15 Tests; they have won three, lost four and drawn eight; in Australia during that period England have played 20 matches, winning three, losing 15 and drawing two. The scars from the antipodes have not healed yet.

Ashley Giles, selector and 2004-05 Test series winner in South Africa, believes the England side playing in South Africa has the smell of success about it. Read on in the Independent.

But one man will have to pull all these strands together when the talking stops. That is Strauss, who is as tough as teak but does not have machismo emblazoned on his clothing. "The word people use a lot with Strauss is impressive," Giles said, "and I think that is as a bloke and as a cricketer. He has a lot of respect from the people around him, he leads very much from the front, is a good leader of men and stays very level.