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In the aftermath of their Ashes victory, and shortly before their momentum was destroyed by a chaotic month of one-day hammerings, England's cricketers vowed to use their summer success as a platform for greater glory. There would be no repeat, said Andrew Strauss, of their tailing-off in 2005, when victory against Australia was a prelude to a run of dismal form that culminated in their 5-0 whitewashing in the return series Down Under.
To all intents and purposes, that building process begins at Lord's at noon on Thursday, when the national selector, Geoff Miller, unveils their squads for England's winter tour of South Africa. Five years ago in the corresponding Test series, Michael Vaughan's men won a thunderous contest, sneaking a 2-1 victory against opponents who began in disarray but gathered momentum with every match.
This time around, however, South Africa will start as the No. 1 Test side in the world, and in Graeme Smith they possess a steely captain who exacted the ultimate revenge by toppling Vaughan in person during last summer's triumph in England. It counts for little that England have subsequently won five completed ODIs in a row against South Africa, including the shock of the tournament in the recent Champions Trophy. As far as England's aspirations are concerned, Test success remains the benchmark.
To that end, one of the very first names on Miller's list will be a man who still speaks with a thick South African accent, but who announced himself as a bona fide Pom by producing the decisive innings of the fifth and final Ashes Test at The Oval. Barring a long-forgotten duck in Belfast, Jonathan Trott has been in mothballs ever since his nerveless 119. He was overlooked for the one-day debacle against Australia because the squad for the Champions Trophy had to be named in advance of his Test debut, but the assurance of his footwork and the clarity of his shot selection mean he is sure to take the squad place of the man whom he replaced at The Oval, Ravi Bopara.
Trott, in fact, could well be one of four players in England's top seven set for a return to the country of his birth - Strauss left Johannesburg at the age of six but returned with aplomb in 2004-05 with 656 runs in the five Tests, while the wicketkeeper Matt Prior also hails from the Highveld. But the most imposing returnee of the lot, fitness permitting, will be Kevin Pietersen, whose absence from the sharp end of England's Ashes campaign left the batting dangerously short of gravitas until Trott's timely arrival.
If missing out against Australia was a crushing disappointment, it will be cruelly exacerbated should Pietersen's Achilles injury deny him the chance to play his first Test in South Africa, having made his full England debut in the ODIs against Zimbabwe that preceded the last trip five years ago. A recent infection in the stitching of his wound pushed Pietersen's rehabilitation back by several weeks, but Strauss remains confident that his star man will be ready to resume his career at least in time for the Test leg of the tour that commences on December 9.
"The information we have got at the moment is that he is getting better quite quickly now," Strauss told BBC Radio Four. "We are very hopeful he will be making the trip to South Africa, hopefully playing some part in the one-dayers and then a full part in the Test series. That is great news for us. We have sorely missed him and the sooner he is back the better."
With Andrew Flintoff now retired, and Stuart Broad still feeling his way as a Test-class allrounder, England's batting will need to be bulked out regardless of Pietersen's availability. Ian Bell produced one of the best innings of his unfulfilled career when he top-scored in England's first innings at The Oval with a gritty 72, and so deserves one more chance to make the No. 3 slot his own. But with Alastair Cook under some pressure as an opener following a poor Ashes campaign, the new name in the frame is likely to be Kent's Joe Denly, whose upright technique has earned plaudits during his early forays in the one-day side, and whose calm demeanour bodes well for the tough challenge that lies ahead.
After saving the Cardiff Test with the rearguard of his life in July, Paul Collingwood finished England's Ashes campaign with his place under habitual scrutiny, but a brief break during the Australia one-dayers enabled him to return revitalised for the Champions Trophy. His subsequent buttock strain will not, in Strauss's opinion, have any impact on his selection for the Test squad, and in fact the reverse is probably true, because he will now have a chance for a proper break from the grind, having escaped his commitment to play for the Delhi Daredevils in the forthcoming Champions League.
England's bowling presents another set of conundrums entirely. James Anderson found form in the Champions Trophy after a difficult final month of the English season, and has established a handy new-ball pairing with Graham Onions, with Ryan Sidebottom seemingly assured of his place in the squad alongside Broad. However, since the retirement of Flintoff, England lack a bowler with the pace to frighten opponents ... unless, of course, they take a punt on a man who went missing spectacularly on the last South Africa tour (and for that matter on most overseas trips either side of the 2004 West Indies tour).
Steve Harmison recently declared his unwavering commitment to England, although he then tempered that resolve by hinting he could retire if overlooked for this winter's campaign. However, given the steepling bounce on offer during the recent one-dayers at the Wanderers, Harmison could be worth his squad place even if Johannesburg proves to be his only appearance of the tour.
Graeme Swann has stormed past Monty Panesar in the spin-bowling stakes, and the legspinner Adil Rashid has since slipstreamed him as well - first by impressing in the ICC World Twenty20, and then by demonstrating his allround credentials during an impressive but ultimately unsuccessful home ODI debut against Australia at The Oval. Given how brutally AB de Villiers treated the last legspinner to make his debut in South Africa, Bryce McGain at Cape Town back in March, there is an element of risk in overlooking Panesar's unspectacular offerings, but that could be said for the selection of all wristspinners. Shane Warne would never have been the player he was had it not been for some brave decisions from above, and on the evidence so far, Rashid has the demeanour to cope.
Which leaves room for one last selection, that of the reserve wicketkeeper. Prior's place is sacrosanct at present, after a summer of aggressive strokeplay at No. 6 allied to vastly improved glovework, but the identity of his understudy remains impossible to pinpoint. James Foster looked the part behind the stumps during the World Twenty and impressed in front of them as well, not least in the Pro40 when he spanked five sixes in a row against Durham.
However, it was Surrey's new signing Steven Davies who earned the call-up for the Champions Trophy when a virus cut short Prior's participation. Meanwhile, the quiet clamour of late has been for the quietest achiever on the county circuit. Geraint Jones was jettisoned in ignominious circumstances during the 2006-07 Ashes, and has barely been mentioned in dispatches since. However, five hundreds in Kent's Division Two title push - the most by a county wicketkeeper for 25 years - could yet earn him a remarkable recall.
Test squad (possible) 1 Andrew Strauss (capt), 2 Alastair Cook, 3 Ian Bell, 4 Jonathan Trott, 5 Kevin Pietersen, 6 Paul Collingwood, 7 Matt Prior (wk), 8 Stuart Broad, 9 Graeme Swann, 10 James Anderson, 11 Graham Onions, 12 Ryan Sidebottom, 13 Joe Denly, 14 Adil Rashid, 15 Geraint Jones (wk), 16 Steve Harmison.
ODI squad (possible) 1 Andrew Strauss (capt), 2 Joe Denly, 3 Jonathan Trott, 4 Paul Collingwood, 5 Eoin Morgan, 6 Owais Shah, 7 Matt Prior (wk), 8 Luke Wright, 9 Stuart Broad, 10 Graeme Swann, 11 James Anderson, 12 Graham Onions, 13 Ryan Sidebottom, 14 Tim Bresnan, 15 Adil Rashid.
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