Glamorgan Coach Robert Croft has flown out to South Africa to spend 12 days with the England squad as they prepare for the One-Day Series in South Africa starting on 3rd February at Bloemfontein.
I'm looking forward to joining up with England and hoping I will be able to add some value as needed to the party, said Croft as he sat in the airport departure lounge waiting for his flight when he spoke to glamorgancricket.com yesterday.
The experience I gain with the squad will give value to Glamorgan and to myself, as the extra experience and awareness I'll gain I can bring back with me and that can rub off on our lads.
Individual brilliance and England's collective team effort was sufficient to secure the Test Series victory and although question marks remain at the top of the order, the manner in which England have approached limited overs cricket since last year's World Cup should give all the batsmen involved new license to impress their quality against a South Africa attack that appears to be hampered by injuries.
With Steyn and Philander both ruled out the one-day series, South Africa will be hoping Kyle Abbott can recover to play a part in the five-match series, whilst 20-year-old Kagiso Rabada caused England's batsmen problems in the fourth Test at Centurion.
Any time you play South Africa particularly on their home soil you are coming up against a proud nation with very talented cricketers, added Croft, who has interviewed for the vacant Glamorgan coaching role this week.
Irrelevant of who is or isn't playing for them, and they appear to have some top quality missing, at international level there are so many game changers on the field that you can't afford to switch off just because you think it's a weaker team, that can leave you in a difficult position.
England face a warm -up game at the Diamond Oval in Kimberley on Saturday before the series starts. They will return to Cardiff later this year to face both Sri Lanka and Pakistan at The SSE SWALEC as the fifth and final games of each series is hosted in the Welsh capital. Tickets are available now priced from £35 for adults, juniors £10 and a family ticket only £80. Buy tickets
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