http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Harold-William-Stephenson-c61707 Finn
In the battle for supremacy, luck sided with England as skipper http://www.senore.com/Cricket/AJ-Strauss-c964 confirmed that his side will bat first against South Africa, the first Test commencing shortly at the Oval, July 19, 2012.
Rain again came to spoil the party but offered compromise with play delayed by just 15 minutes. Strauss suggested that the track remains good for batting and given the inform nature of his batters, he wants them to make full use of the early firmness.
His counterpart, http://www.senore.com/Cricket/GC-Smith-c1473, who is featuring in his 100th Test match, also backed Strauss’ comments but given the overcast conditions, he is hoping for some early Dale Steyn magic.
The teams had pretty familiar looks as predicted, with Tim Bresnan confirmed as the preferred third bowling option, leaving Steve Finn to play some more county cricket. http://www.senore.com/Cricket/G-Onions-c1449 was already ruled out after skipping training.
The rest of the formation sees the return of http://www.senore.com/Cricket/KP-Pietersen-c1806, who no longer players One-day, and T20 cricket. Ravi Bopara is another entree, taking place of the out of sorts Jonny Bairstow. Bopara had been in impressive run of form since recovering from injury and will be aiming to make giant strides in cementing a permanent place in the Test side.
The Proteas, as expected, have gone with seven specialist batters, with http://www.senore.com/Cricket/MV-Boucher-c2048’s premature exit from international cricket was disappointing but he will be hoping to see his side emerge as the newly crowned no.1 ranked Test side in what would have been his 150th Test.
The bowling attack of both sides remains as daunting as it can get. However, the spin king for now is http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Imran-c64193 Tahir will be looking to prove his mettle as a wicket-taker.
The pitch at the Oval has offered help for spinners in the past but given the English weather and the supreme pace talent, one expects quicks to make the most.
England 1 Andrew Strauss (capt), 2 http://www.senore.com/Cricket/JM-Anderson-c1705
South Africa 1 Graeme Smith (capt), 2 http://www.senore.com/Cricket/M-Morkel-c73528, 11 Imran Tahir
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