Engalnd vs South Africa 1st Test Preview

Wickman loves cricket in the winter. Sat snivelling at his desk, swallowing sinutab like a ketamine freak in a night club, he is buoyed by the idea that someone, somewhere is having fun with cricket gear.

Tomorrow sees the start of a really exciting series. The South Africans, recently the first world number one not called Australia, are shaping into a very good Test Side. Good enough to draw in India last year which is saying something.

That batting line up. Smith, Prince, Amla, Kallis, De Villiers and Duminy looks like one of the best in South African post Mandela history. There's runs there. The bowling looks a little less frightening Steyn apart. But it's still a pretty effective attack even if Ntini is not a 10 wicket a match merchant any longer. Harris is a bit crap but then no doubt he will get KP five times in eight innings because the great man will want to tonk him out of the park on the left handed switch hit every time he comes on.

England too look like they will score runs in SA. There seems to be a new steel about them gained from the morale boosting marmalisation of the Aussies at The Oval.

So it looks like the series will be decided by the bowling attacks. Wickman is hoping that the stale Carribean pitches followed by the Cardiff massacre by Australia will have toughened up Anderson and Broad - and Swanny, if he plays, is showing signs of maturing into the sort of spinner Tim May was for Australia. A partnership breaker and someone to work around if things aren't happening between overs 40 and 80.

For the South Africans, with Kallis injured, an immense burden falls on Steyn's shoulders. Long talked about as the finished article he has looked unthreatening mostly with the white ball. Ntini is clearly a good bowler but his line of attack can be easily dealt with on all but the spiciest pitches where he is able to hold his line to bring the slips into play. Morkel looks nifty but lacks a real threat and throat ball. So it's down to Steyn. It's difficult to see with Paul Harris, the clown without makeup, bowling his slow non-spinners where 20 wickets are going to come from if Steyn can't make the ball talk in his first and second spells.

Wickman is bravely predicting a 2-1 series win for England with one rain affected game. We need to get out there from tomorrow and put pressure on them in their own country. As the plucky corporal Jones of Dad's Army was often heard to observe... "they don't like it up them".