Steyn to miss South Africa’s 2nd test vs England

“If Quinny does come in he will take a load off AB and he has also been in very good form with the bat.

There are a few cracks and we will have to score heavily in the first innings”, said South Africa’s captain Hashim Amla.

“My thought is you’d probably go with him, so fingers crossed he comes to us and says his body’s feeling good”.

The test starts on Saturday. And he knows more than most guys of how it is to play Test cricket and to go through tough times.

“We have to be careful not to get carried away”.

Kyle Abbott, who reported stiffness in his hamstring on Wednesday, must face a fitness test to determine whether he stays in the side or is replaced by Chris Morris or Hardus Viljoen, neither of whom have played test cricket.

“If he’s fit and ready and confident, then he’ll be opening the bowling, but we don’t want to hinder ourselves and have an injury caused that we could have prevented”.

England are in buoyant mood after their efforts in Durban and will be hoping the brief two-day turnaround plays into their hands. The fast bowler missed the first Test because of a calf strain.

They have lost just once in their last 13 outings at the picturesque ground, and England have not won here since 1957.

Rabada was the bowler, Cook drawn forward to squirt an edge towards third slip on 27. Changing that kind of inconsistency represents something of a new year resolution.

Cook said 2015 had been an “up-and-down year” for England and he wanted consistency to be the key word this year. That type of experience is invaluable for us and that is why we are trying to draw on it. “It was great to finish with a performance like that [in Durban], a real relentless performance from pretty much ball one”.

“If we’d bowled 140 overs in the dirt in Durban and then had a two-day turnaround in 40 degrees, which it has been here, that’s a gruelling ask to keep the standards up. With the number of English people here, it’s going to be a great Test to be part of”. “But we got our head round the schedule, we’ve known about it and we certainly won’t be using that if we don’t play well”.

South Africa are still reeling after the first Test setback and have drafted in former captain Graeme Smith to assist the side with ideas and their psychological approach.

De Villiers, increasingly the player South Africa look for to inspire success, can now concentrate on his batting.

On Friday at Newlands, when asked about Smith’s criticism, Amla said: “Well, the reality is that when you win or lose a cricket game, you are either going to be praised or criticised”. You’ve got to nearly refresh what the processes are that made you successful.