South Africa tour preview

South Africa hasn't had the best time of it lately. They followed a 5-1 thumping by New Zealand with the appointment of a lunatic as coach. But things are starting to look up. Ray Jennings has lost his coaching job, Jacques Kallis has become the best (if most boring) batsman in the world and Andre Nel, while probably as nutty as his old coach (click on the link), has turned into a terrifying fast bowler. The team still lacks a quality spin bowler - something which might cause Graeme Smith problems as he captains Dan Vettori and Muttiah Muralitharan for the World XI - but that won't matter too much on African wickets custom built for fast bowlers. One glance at the top order, which is capped by Herschelle Gibbs, Smith and Kallis, indicates that New Zealand are not going to find this tour as easy as Zimbabwe.

Having said that South Africa is not going to be easy, the New Zealanders should still go into the series in good heart. Shane Bond's back is still in one piece, Dan Vettori is probably in the best form of his life, Jacob Oram is on the comeback trail and the New Zealand 'A' side has demonstrated that there is depth in New Zealand cricket. I hate making predictions, but if Shane Bond remains fit and sharp I am picking New Zealand to edge out a close series.