Relieved England start the real tour

Michael Vaughan faces the media on arrival at Johannesburg © Getty Images

The relief on the faces of many of the England squad to be back in Johannesburg after nine days in Zimbabwe was clear to see. Normal service was resumed, and the business part of this winter's tour - the Test and one-day series against South Africa - was underway. Even the rain which greeted the squad didn't dampen their arrival.

As Michael Vaughan faced the media, he was back on familiar ground, answering questions on cricket and not politics and endless what-ifs. It was fairly standard pre-series stuff, but it was about cricket, and that's what mattered.

"This is the exciting part of the winter, with five Tests between two evenly matched teams," Vaughan told reporters at Johannesburg airport. "I don't see us as favourites or underdogs, but if we play to the high standards we set in the summer then I fancy our chances of winning. But I'm sure South Africa fancy their chances of winning too."

If there is a feeling that a resurgent England have the edge over a South African side which has struggled of late, Vaughan was keen to play down any signs of overconfidence. "Our players are maturing and improving, but it is a big, big challenge to come over here and win. South Africa have batting in depth and Shaun Pollock, Jacques Kallis, Herschelle Gibbs and Graeme Smith always pose a huge threat. But we have match-winners too and we are certainly happy with our attack."

Duncan Fletcher, England's coach, was equally non-committal in his comments. "There is still room for improvement, but I am very confident of what we can do," he said, rarely showing any sign of emotion." The South African team has a lot of potential, but maybe their confidence is not as high as it could be. We must ensure we take advantage of that."

It is Fletcher's second trip to South Africa as England's coach, but the contrast with his first visit in 1999-2000 could not be more marked. "It was a very strange situation," he recalled. "I had only met the captain [Nasser Hussain] a month before we arrived and I didn't actually know some of the players when they came through the hotel door at the airport. But we have a good balance to the side now and we have experience of playing and working together. This is a totally different scenario and we arrive here very confident in what we can do."

There is little time for gentle acclimatisation as used to be the case. The tour starts with a fairly relaxed game against a Nicky Oppenheimer XI at Randjesfontein on Wednesday and that is followed by a three-day game against South Africa A starting on Saturday. The first Test begins a week on Friday. The squad was reunited with Mark Butcher, Andrew Flintoff, Stephen Harmison, Graham Thorpe and Marcus Trescothick, who have been practising since their arrival last Wednesday.