Centurion – The England touring party arrived at SuperSport Park, Centurion this morning for their first official practice of the tour. Three hours later some of the players were still at it, under a 30 degrees Celsius South African summer sun.

A good structured net session was held by all, especially Chris Adams who seemed to be very comfortable on the quicker pitches. Michael Vaughan struggled to get to grips with the quicker pace and his timing, but returned later with the bowling machine helping him come to terms with the ball coming onto the bat.

A few of the batsmen also used the throwing net with Phil Neale peppering them with short-pitched balls. It seemed obvious that England are expecting a barrage of bouncers and short pitched deliveries from the South African pace men.

Darren Gough and Alex Tudor limbered up in the background for most of the session, but finished off bowling close to full pace at Graeme Swann who seemed to be under scrutiny with coach Duncan Fletcher in close proximity. Chris Read received the same treatment from coach and fast bowlers.

Gough speaking on his injury to his ankle and calf muscle is very confident of the leg holding up for the full duration of the tour. “I have had a rest since July and after a bit of golf in Ireland, a lovely place that, have been in the nets for the last two weeks. I am as ready as I ever have been and if asked to play on Monday I will be out there and as always giving all I have. Now it is just match practice that is lacking,” he said.

Gough also stressed that people forget that England beat South Africa last season and followed that up with a series against Australia that could easily have ended 2 all. “We had fought back well against two of the best teams in test cricket, but a bad summer at home has us rated very lowly. I believe that we have a better test team than our rating suggests and hope to show it on this tour,” he stressed.

The English squad will continue making daily use of the SuperSport Park facilities, and this might include a session in the middle on Saturday or Sunday.

© CI