Proteas ready to fire

Micky Arthur expects South Africa's seamers to trouble England's Test batsmen

Coach Micky Arthur believes South Africa have the bowling firepower to topple England in the forthcoming npower Test series with Michael Vaughan’s side.

The Proteas will be putting the emphasis on pace – through the likes of Makhaya Ntini, Dale Steyn and Morne Morkel – in the four matches starting with the opener at Lord’s on July 10.

Arthur is confident South Africa will triumph in England for the first time since returning to the international fold in the mid-1990s – providing their top-order batsmen put enough runs on the board to back up their attack.

Arthur said: “I see whether England can cope with our attack as a key element to this series. I think it will be a huge decisive factor.

“I believe we have an attack that can take 20 wickets in a game. I believe we have got an attack that has variety.

“When we went about rebuilding our attack, we wanted three strikers that could bowl fast speeds, plus (Jacques) Kallis who can swing it and do a holding job for us, and the spinner.

“We believe we have achieved that – but our top-seven batsmen are going to be crucial.

“If our top seven can give us starts, like they’ve done all year, and put the runs on the board, we have the attack that can take the wickets. I am confident with where we are as a team at the moment.”

Arthur has studied England closely during the recent npower Test series with New Zealand and believes they can find areas to exploit in their batting line-up.

He said: “I watched the series pretty closely and I think England as a batting unit didn’t fire.

“One or two batters fired in every Test which got them to respectable totals, but they didn’t fire as a unit and there was some pressure at five and six.”

South Africa captain Graeme Smith hopes to be fit for the first npower Test which starts on July 10

Buy this photo

Arthur added: “Since unity happened in the 1990s, we have never won here. This team wants to leave its footprint here. We want to be the first team since unity to win in England.

“We’ve been building up. There were three major series that captain Graeme Smith and I worked towards as a leadership team – India in India, England in England and Australia in Australia.

“We have them all in the space of nine months, which is a huge challenge for us.

“But the squad is hugely excited at coming to England. The cricket culture here is huge so we are really looking forward to doing well here.”

South Africa launch their tour of England with a three-day game against Somerset at Taunton beginning tomorrow.

But skipper Smith – who misses the game through injury – is more concerned that his side are firing on all cylinders for the Test opener than making an immediate impression in the West Country.

He said: “I said to the guys it is a great place to start the tour. It is a bit quieter and there is enough time to work on your game.

“For us who have been out of competitive Test cricket for a while now, it is a chance to get into our stride and find our feet.

“I am not expecting brilliant things from the guys in the game. I am just looking on it as an opportunity to find our feet in terms of conditions, the Dukes ball, whatever we are going to face.

“It is a chance for batters to get time in the middle, bowlers to get spells under their belts. We are looking to peak for July 10 and that process starts at Taunton.

“We will settle into the UK touring life. We had a good training camp before we came here and it is another opportunity to get ready for what we hope is going to be an exciting series.”