James Anderson braced for tough tour

England's cricketers are bracing themselves for a stern test when their tour of South Africa begins next month, with fast bowler James Anderson predicting they would find it "much harder than this summer". But Anderson, who will lead England's pace attack, said England could take hope from Australia's Test series win in South Africa earlier this year as well as the time spent during the ICC Champions Trophy.

"It's up there with Australia in Australia as the toughest tour around," said Anderson. "They're deservedly number one in the world and playing them in South Africa will be a huge test for us. They're a very similar team to Australia; they've got a very strong captain in Graeme Smith and he brings the best out of his players.

"As we saw when they came over here last year, they're a very strong side. They're very difficult to beat and it's going to be a hard challenge - much harder than this summer."

Anderson will have bitter memories of the only Test he played in South Africa, back on the successful tour in 2004-05. Coming in a replacement for the injured Simon Jones, Anderson took 2 for 149 - as Wisden wrote, he "had forgotten how to bowl" - and was dropped for the final Test.

"I don't want to play like that again," said Anderson. "It was a tough tour because the team was settled, the bowling unit was settled, and then all of a sudden there's an injury after three Tests. Having just bowled at a stump for five weeks, I wasn't in a great place to play Test cricket. I've put that to one side now - that was the first part of my career. Hopefully I've started a new chapter and I'm a lot more settled in the team now. I'm a lot more confident as a bowler and much improved as well."

Anderson believed England's "huge" run to the semi-final of the Champions Trophy kept them in good preparation for the four Tests. "We played brilliantly against Sri Lanka and South Africa and if we can recreate some of that form and just get that consistency, we can progress and develop as a one-day side. Having found some form in South Africa, it's going to give us confidence going back there, having played in those conditions and knowing what to expect. We're pretty confident and looking forward to it.

"Australia beat them in South Africa just before they came over here. We can take confidence from that and we can take a lot of confidence from the Ashes win."