From cricinfo....
England v South Africa, Edgbaston, July 8, 1330 GMT
In other circumstances, the match between England and South Africa under the Edgbaston lights could have been crucial in deciding the final line-up at Lord's on July 12. However, after both sides demolished Zimbabwe over the weekend, we know that England will play South Africa in the NatWest Series final. Now Edgbaston offers the opportunity for one or the other to gain the early psychological ascendancy.
Such a notion does not devalue the match as a contest. If South Africa were to beat England and then, as expected, Zimbabwe in their final round-robin match, there is an argument to suggest that they would have built up a winning momentum that would be difficult to halt at Lord's. Meanwhile if England could get the better of South Africa in this match, for the second time in the tournament, then they would be confident of going to London NW8 to repeat the outstanding result they achieved at the first time of asking in London SE11.
When England's selectors named their experimental squad for this event, they were embarking on a process that will culminate in the 2007 World Cup in the Caribbean. It was inconceivable that all the selections would prove to be an immediate success, and there are bound to be changes in the course of the next four years. There will be injuries, there will be losses of form, and other names will force themselves into the reckoning with runs or wickets.
As well as showing who has got the potential to go all the way, these matches are also useful in determining which players are unlikely to make it and which might be worth keeping an eye on even if they are not quite ready yet. Results so far would suggest that the England selectors still have plenty of work on their hands.
So too have the South Africans. Until Graeme Smith and Herschelle Gibbs ran into form, their batting was far too reliant on Jacques Kallis to be healthy, while their bowling lacked the appearance of a cohesive unit. But it must be remembered that the South Africans are going through exactly the same process as England. Neither will want to sacrifice long-term plans merely to get a positive result in this tournament, and neither will allow the match at Edgbaston to cloud their confidence for the final at Lord's.
You can almost hear the post-match press conference now. The winning captain will say: "While we are pleased to have won this one, Lord's on Saturday will be an entirely different match and we shall have to start all over again then." From the losing captain we'll have: "Of course, we're disappointed to have lost here but this result does not have any bearing on what will happen at Lord's on Saturday." And both will be absolutely right. On any given day, either Michael Vaughan or Graeme Smith could be forced into having either quotation attributed to him.
England (probable): 1 Marcus Trescothick, 2 Vikram Solanki, 3 Michael Vaughan (capt), 4 Anthony McGrath 5 Andrew Flintoff, 6 Rikki Clarke, 7 Chris Read (wk), 8 Richard Johnson, 9 Steve Harmison, 10 Darren Gough, 11 James Anderson.
South Africa (probable): 1 Graeme Smith (capt), 2 Herschelle Gibbs, 3 Jacques Kallis, 4 Jacques Rudolph, 5 Mark Boucher (wk), 6 Martin van Jaarsveld, 7 Shaun Pollock, 8 Andrew Hall, 9 Nicky Boje, 10 Charl Langeveldt, 11 Makhaya Ntini.
England v South Africa, Edgbaston, July 8, 1330 GMT
In other circumstances, the match between England and South Africa under the Edgbaston lights could have been crucial in deciding the final line-up at Lord's on July 12. However, after both sides demolished Zimbabwe over the weekend, we know that England will play South Africa in the NatWest Series final. Now Edgbaston offers the opportunity for one or the other to gain the early psychological ascendancy.
Such a notion does not devalue the match as a contest. If South Africa were to beat England and then, as expected, Zimbabwe in their final round-robin match, there is an argument to suggest that they would have built up a winning momentum that would be difficult to halt at Lord's. Meanwhile if England could get the better of South Africa in this match, for the second time in the tournament, then they would be confident of going to London NW8 to repeat the outstanding result they achieved at the first time of asking in London SE11.
When England's selectors named their experimental squad for this event, they were embarking on a process that will culminate in the 2007 World Cup in the Caribbean. It was inconceivable that all the selections would prove to be an immediate success, and there are bound to be changes in the course of the next four years. There will be injuries, there will be losses of form, and other names will force themselves into the reckoning with runs or wickets.
As well as showing who has got the potential to go all the way, these matches are also useful in determining which players are unlikely to make it and which might be worth keeping an eye on even if they are not quite ready yet. Results so far would suggest that the England selectors still have plenty of work on their hands.
So too have the South Africans. Until Graeme Smith and Herschelle Gibbs ran into form, their batting was far too reliant on Jacques Kallis to be healthy, while their bowling lacked the appearance of a cohesive unit. But it must be remembered that the South Africans are going through exactly the same process as England. Neither will want to sacrifice long-term plans merely to get a positive result in this tournament, and neither will allow the match at Edgbaston to cloud their confidence for the final at Lord's.
You can almost hear the post-match press conference now. The winning captain will say: "While we are pleased to have won this one, Lord's on Saturday will be an entirely different match and we shall have to start all over again then." From the losing captain we'll have: "Of course, we're disappointed to have lost here but this result does not have any bearing on what will happen at Lord's on Saturday." And both will be absolutely right. On any given day, either Michael Vaughan or Graeme Smith could be forced into having either quotation attributed to him.
England (probable): 1 Marcus Trescothick, 2 Vikram Solanki, 3 Michael Vaughan (capt), 4 Anthony McGrath 5 Andrew Flintoff, 6 Rikki Clarke, 7 Chris Read (wk), 8 Richard Johnson, 9 Steve Harmison, 10 Darren Gough, 11 James Anderson.
South Africa (probable): 1 Graeme Smith (capt), 2 Herschelle Gibbs, 3 Jacques Kallis, 4 Jacques Rudolph, 5 Mark Boucher (wk), 6 Martin van Jaarsveld, 7 Shaun Pollock, 8 Andrew Hall, 9 Nicky Boje, 10 Charl Langeveldt, 11 Makhaya Ntini.
