http://www.senore.com/Cricket/South-Africa-c757 – Cricket News Update
Former England all-rounder Andrew Flintoff is the latest to jump into the war of words embroiling the highly anticipated England-South Africa Test series, which gets underway at The Oval on Thursday, July 19, 2012.
During an interview with the Sky Sports, the 34-year-old http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Lancashire-c806 man tipped the hosts as unambiguous favourites in the three-Test series, where England’s Top Test spot will be on line.
“We'll win, I think we'll do alright. I just see us with what we've got, South Africa - obviously they're a good unit with the likes of Kallis, Steyn and http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Daniel-Smith-c1313 the captain,” said the lanky Lancashire cricketer, who retired from international cricket in
2010, after surrendering to his long-standing knee injury.
“But they win when they try and dominate you from the very start and keep you under pressure, but I don't think we'll let them do that to us,” he added further.
England are currently enjoying a spot at the top of the http://www.senore.com/Cricket/ICC-World-Cup-2011-c100625 Test rankings, while South Africa trail them on rankings chart by nine points. Even a 1-0 series win would allow the Proteas to dethrone the Poms as the world’s best Test side. But Flintoff does
not see any threat to hosts’ top position, as he reckons even a second string England squad would be better than South Africa’s touring party.
“It is number one versus number two in the world but we've got a great side,” said Flintoff, who represented England in 79 Tests and 141 One Day Internationals, during an international career spanning 11 years.
“I reckon our second 11 could be number two in the world - I think we really are that good,” he added further.
What boosts http://www.senore.com/Cricket/KP-Pietersen-c1806 scoring a double century in their respective Championship
games last week. While Bell, Cook, Bopara and Trott, all proved themselves in the recently concluded 4-0 ODI series whitewash over http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Australia-c746.
The opening Test will at The Oval, from July 19 to 23, will be followed by a game at Leeds (August 2-6), and at Lord’s (August 16-20).
The tourists are also scheduled to play two warm-up games, against http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Worcestershire-c866 (July 27-28) and against Derbyshire (August 10-11).
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