England may be a single good performance away from becoming only the second team to beat South Africa in a one-day series on their home territory, but victory will not excite players into declaring that they are finally about to conquer the world of limited-overs cricket.
Matt Prior was more than merely on-message yesterday when he spoke about the honesty that Andy Flower, the team director, and Andrew Strauss, the captain, have made a core value of the side. Past teams have ignored reality by exaggerating their ability. This one knows that it remains some way from the best.
A win or a washout at Sahara Stadium tomorrow — the latter cannot be ruled out after rain again fell heavily last night in the wake of a deceptively cheerful morning — will mean that England equal the twin achievements of Australia in 1996-97 and 2001-02 in overpowering South Africa in a bilateral series here.
In all one-day games at home, South Africa boast a win-loss ratio of almost 3:1, with 128 wins and 45 losses since readmission after the collapse of apartheid. “It would be a huge, huge success,” Prior said. “But we need patience because we are not going to win one series and suddenly be ranked at the top.
“Hopefully we can become the second country to beat them, and that statistic is great motivation. What we really want is constant improvement and consistency. We have been good after bad performances, but we want to become better at getting ahead of the game, not have to take a pounding before we fight back.”
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No other team sport is as egocentric as cricket, a collection of individual contests between bowler and batsman adding up to a game. Statistics highlight personal records. But teams, as Flower stresses, also need balance in skill and character. Tim Bresnan is no Andrew Flintoff, but his value goes way beyond his bowling average.
Support of players off the field means subscribing to a view on the South Africans in the squad. Ranks have closed behind Jonathan Trott and it may not be a coincidence that he is batting prolifically. Prior has a different background. Born in Johannesburg, he was 11 when his parents emigrated and he learnt the game in England.
“As long as I look around that dressing room and the bloke next to me wants to win for England, I don’t care where he was born or where he was brought up,” Prior said. “In this environment, playing for your team is far more important than playing for your place. It’s not a case of, ‘If I do all right here, I might get another game.’
“That change of attitude is so healthy. Since the two Andys have taken over we have been very, very honest with ourselves and each other. We were seventh in the world in one-day cricket. That is very black and white, so we couldn’t just pretend we’d been unlucky. You cannot move forward until you accept where you are.”
By coincidence, Prior was offered to the media at a time when Rory Hamilton-Brown is considering whether to leave Sussex to captain Surrey, at 22 and with six championship appearances to his name. Prior, of Sussex, sees similarities in the differences between the counties and between England past and present.
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He said: “I remember beating Surrey when they literally had 11 internationals in the side. We should not have survived those four days. It became apparent to me how powerful it can be to have 11 guys pulling in the same direction. I would take that any day, rather than one or two superstars who don’t want to play in the team.
“I would like Rory to stay because he is very talented, but I want people at Sussex to be passionate about playing for Sussex. If they want to live in London and play for Surrey, it is a decision to make.
“The captaincy element has come as quite a big surprise. It will be a very big responsibility for him to go to a club like Surrey with the big egos and big personalities they have there. For a 22-year-old to captain Mark Ramprakash is hard work for anyone, let alone a guy who has played so few championship matches.”
South Africa have included three uncapped players — Alviro Petersen, Ryan McLaren and Friedel de Wet — in their squad of 15 for the first Test match against England in Centurion, starting on December 16.