London: England’s bowlers will face their sternest examination in their upcoming three Test series against the South African batting line-up, featuring four players ranked in the world’s top 10, according pacer James Anderson.
The world number one ranking is on the line and the series is being billed as a battle between the best two pace attacks in world cricket.
“It`s going to be a huge challenge. The last couple of times South Africa have been over here, they`ve played really well and beaten us. Both attacks have shown in the last 18 months that we are strong units. I think it`ll be a good battle,” Anderson said.
“It`s going to be really important that our bowling attack`s on top form because their batting unit`s really strong. I see they`ve got six key wickets, they`ve got such a strong batting line-up that every wicket`s crucial. They`ve got some great players in there and we`re going to have to be on the top of our game,” he said.
“We`re looking forward to it, we like testing ourselves against the best in the world and there`s four of their guys in the top 10 so it should be a good challenge. South Africa probably soak up pressure better than anybody else in the world so we might have to be more patient than we have in recent series, and that`s going to be our biggest test.”
South Africa inflicted England’s last Test series defeat on home soil, in 2008.
Anderson said: “A lot of the guys played in that series, we`re well aware of it. They played really well last time they were over here and they`re going to be strong in our conditions with both the bat and the ball. But confidence is high, we`re really excited to be playing such a strong team.”
ANI
First Published: Wednesday, July 18, 2012, 12:51