Date-stamped : 21 Oct95 - 18:27
CRICKET-ENGLAND   By   Michael  Finch JOHANNESBURG Oct 19 DESPITE
DANCING  ZULUS,   ENGLAND   STILL  CONFIDENT

England`s three-month five-Test  cricket  tour  of  South  Africa
started   off  as  lively off the field as it is expected  to  be
on   when   the team  arrived  in  South Africa    on   Thursday.
The   16-man  squad,  led   by   manager Ray Illingworth, touched
down at  Johannesburg International Airport,  travelled to  their
luxury  Sandton  hotel,  and were given a traditional  welcome by
some lively Zulu  danc- ers before  attending  a  Press   confer-
ence.   "We  have  had  a great welcome here," Illingworth  said,
"although  we  were a bit  ap- prehensive  about the Zulus  danc-
ing up and down."

Even the Press conference proved  to  be  a lively  affair,  with
Il-   lingworth     mostly     predicting    a    battle of   the
bowlers.  "I think it will be a pretty lively series,"    Illing-
worth    said.  "I  would  love  it  to  be 3-2,  but  the  right
way of course.  "We are here to play cricket, and we  have   come
to   play  good cricket  and win."             Captain  Mike Ath-
erton felt the series would depend on how both sides handled each
other`s  bowl- ing attacks.

With England spearheaded by pacemen Devon Malcolm,  Darren  Gough
and   Dominic  Cork,    and    South  Africa by  Allan Donald and
fiery Brett Schultz, the series was shaping up to be a   survival
of  the   bravest   batsmen.   "Yes,   Donald and Schultz   are a
decent opening pair," Atherton said, "but I  think   you   should
also   ask  the  South Africans  how they are go- ing  to  handle
our pace attack."

The one ace up South Africa`s sleeve will be    left-arm  paceman
Schultz,  of whom the England  team have had little experience.

"We will be getting the highlights of the Test series in  Harare,
so  we`ll have   a  chance to have a look at him," Atherton said.
"But he`s got a reputation and we`ve seen some articles about him
over  in England."

England  arrived  in  South Africa with  a  virtually  fully  fit
team.   Malcolm confirmed that he was  well  on the  road to  re-
covering  from  knee surgery, while former  South African   Robin
Smith  had  just   returned   to  the  fray after   his cheekbone
was  smashed  during the drawn Test series against the  West  In-
dies earlier this year.

"We are going  forward as  a  team,"  Illingworth  said. "We came
back twice against the West Indies so I can say that we are fair-
ly confident." The  team will  practice  on  Friday morning   and
afternoon.  The  tour-  ists  play their first match against  the
Nicky  Oppenheimer   XI   in Randjiesfontein on Tuesday.

Despite their recent success  against  the West  Indies,  England
still   come   to South Africa with a dismal Test record that has
seen them lose 10, draw two and win only  two  of their  last  14
tests.   England  have  not  won  a Test series abroad since 1992
South Africa, on the other hand, are  look- ing  to  establish  a
new  record  of  consecutive Test wins having won their last four
outings against New Zealand (three), Pakistan and Zimbabwe.

Source :: SAPA

<END> Contributed by Eitan (eitan@*.ru.ac.za)