It’s not often that a series against England is considered to be a stepping stone to better things, but the Proteas’ three-match, one-day international rubber against the poms – beginning on Wednesday and finishing on Monday – has been reduced to exactly that because of the looming ICC Champions Trophy.
So, what should have been a spirited start to a tour that included a T20 and test series has been relegated to warm-up games for the Champions Trophy competition, which begins on June 1.
South Africa goes into the series looking to answer questions that will fine-tune the Proteas in their search of that elusive major ICC trophy – they have so far only won the inaugural tournament, which was played in 1998.