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England hoping for rain

Eduan Roos

Johannesburg – The English cricket team will hope that rain intervenes for a second time in a row on Friday after the struggling visitors suffered a double setback.

Stuart Broad and Graeme Swann, who are among England’s leading one-day bowlers, will miss Friday’s first international against the Proteas because of injuries. They are also likely to be ruled out of Sunday’s second one-day international.

Broad has been struggling with a back injury for the past two weeks, while Swann’s side muscle injury has not healed.

The injuries mean that the English now have to choose between Sajid Mahmood, Tim Bresnan and Adil Rashid. They were massacred by Graeme Smith and Loots Bosman in the last match between the sides.

Smith and Bosman set a world record for the biggest partnership for any wicket in Twenty20 cricket (170 runs) at Centurion on Sunday.

The good news for the visitors is that Paul Collingwood and James Anderson are set to return from injury.

Collingwood maintained on Thursday that the tourists are not dispirited, in spite of the weakened side that they have to field on Friday.

“It’s great to have James back because he has led our attack over the past few years,” said Collingwood.

“We’ll have to pick a young side, but all the guys have showed that they possess the fighting spirit to beat South Africa.”

Collingwood believes that former England coach Duncan Fletcher, who is a consultant at the Proteas, will make the tourists’ task that much tougher. He was the England coach when they won the Ashes in 2005.

“He knows the technique of our players very well and that will be valuable for South Africa.”

Meanwhile, Proteas coach Mickey Arthur on Thursday included left-arm swing bowler Lonwabo Tsotsobe in the 12-man squad. There is a 60% chance of thunderstorms predicted for Friday.

“We’ll only be able to finalise our starting team once we see whether the sun is shining or not,” said the Proteas coach.

Probable teams:

South Africa: Graeme Smith (captain), Jacques Kallis, AB de Villiers, JP Duminy, Alviro Petersen, Albie Morkel, Mark Boucher, Ryan McLaren, Roelof van der Merwe, Dale Steyn, Charl Langeveldt.

England: Andrew Strauss (captain), Joe Denly, Jonathan Trott, Kevin Pietersen, Paul Collingwood, Eoin Morgan, Matt Prior, Luke Wright, Adil Rashid, Graham Onions, James Anderson.
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