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Cape Town - The Proteas will be desperate to get back to winning ways in their four-match series against England, but how much advantage can they hope to gain from playing in front of their home crowds?
Well, a look at the numbers suggests that home ground advantage will actually count for very little.
Speaking on the ESPNCricinfo magazine show Numbers Don't Lie, the site's stats editor S. Rajesh presented a case for suggesting that the Proteas have historically not gained much from playing against the English at home.
Of the 19 Tests played between the countries in South Africa since 1994, the Proteas have won just five while England have won four.
In fact, South Africa have performed better against England when playing away from home.
Of the 20 Tests played in England in the same time frame, the Proteas have won eight while England have triumphed just six times.
The Proteas have also been historically poorer at home compared to their immediate Test rivals in recent years.
Since 2006, South Africa have won 27 of 47 matches at home ... losing 17 times. That means that the Proteas have lost just under 30% of their home matches since 2006 - a record that is bettered by Sri Lanka (22.9%), England (19.1%), Australia (15%), Pakistan (12.9%) and India (11.3%).
Of course, the numbers will count for little when the sides take to the field in Durban on Boxing Day ... but what they do now is suggest that this could be an extremely closely contested series.
