Dale Steyn rubbishes the statements that he is finished

Wicketkeeper Quinton de Kock will have a final assessment on his troublesome knee on Wednesday ahead of the fourth Test against England in Pretoria, according to Cricket South Africa.

England’s middle-order batting and pace-bowling has been very effective, notably the brilliant second-innings spell from Stuart Broad in last week’s victory in Johannesburg.

“For me and a lot of the other guys, there’s a lot to play for. I think from a positional point of view it has responsibility”, he said. “I believe we can find a few cracks in the batting line-up”.

England skipper Alastair Cook, responding to suggestions that De Villiers was referring to the country’s record wicket-taker when he mentioned diminishing speeds, said: “It’s a fearless man to call Jimmy Anderson out but it spices it up a little bit, doesn’t it?” “It’s a Test match for England”, Compton said.

The 32-year-old Compton, who was born in South Africa, returned to the Test arena after a two-year absence at the start of the tour and has contributed 220 runs at an average of 36.66.

With De Villiers, reflecting the hurt pride of his squad, talking about weaknesses in the England team and their batting not being “100% best-in-the-world material” and the visitors taking exception to those comments, it could well be a bit of a brawl at Centurion over the next five days.

While his place is not under threat despite a lean series that has yielded just 103 runs at an average of 17, his new opening partner Alex Hales could do with a big score, having managed just 17 more.

“If you want to become the best team in the world, you do win series 3-0, 4-0 or 5-0, and that’s the challenge for these young blokes”.

They have been bailed out by some stellar showings from Stokes, Joe Root and Jonny Bairstow, and Cook wants to spread the load as the series draws to a close.

On the other hand, England has been thrilling with their performances and deserves every plaudit that goes with them.

“We’ve got the opportunity to do that and I’m really looking forward to this week to see how people respond”. Injury to Steve Finn means England has to select between Chris Woakes and Chris Jordan or rather bank on the uncapped Mark Footitt.

Joe Root’s brilliant ton and Stokes’ half-century helped England take a 10-run lead in the first innings.

“All three are different options and are desperate to be selected”, Cook said.

Umpires: C Gaffaney (NZ), K Dharmasena (SL).