By Richard Sydenham
LONDON, July 18 (Reuters) – England pace bowler Graham
Onions may be ruled out of the opening match of the three-test
series against South Africa starting at the Oval on Thursday
after a hamstring strain forced him to miss training on
Wednesday.
Onions, who played in the third test against West Indies
this year, is competing for the third fast bowling slot with Tim
Bresnan and Steven Finn.
South Africa would overtake England at the top of the world
rankings if they win the series and England captain Andrew
Strauss told a news conference on Wednesday he expected a lively
start to the series.
““South Africa are a very fine side and they’ll be
determined to knock us off our perch,” Strauss said.
“”There will be an extra bit of spice because it’s the two
best teams in the world, but every series I’ve played against
South Africa has always been very keenly contested and I don’t
think this will be any different.
“I’m certainly very excited about it and it will be a good
gauge for us. The rankings say we are number one and we have to
go out and prove that now.”
England’s most recent home series defeat was against South
Africa in 2008.
South Africa fast bowlers Dale Steyn and Morne Morkel are
accustomed to English pitches as are leg-spinner Imran Tahir and
swing bowler Vernon Philander, who both have English county
experience.
Continued…
