South Africa v New Zealand - Series Preview

South Africa have been playing good, hard cricket since Hansie Cronje took over as captain, and series victories at home against Pakistan and, very impressively, away to England have given them the chance to leap into second place in the rankings if they can achieve a 2-0 or better result over New Zealand. The Proteas are expected to field a similar side to the one that performed so well in England, although Cronje himself will be hoping to fare better with the bat than he did on that tour, and the pressure will be on former skipper Trevor Goddard to score runs at the top of the order. Goddard is the only ever-present in the ATG world having played in all South Africa's 61 Tests to date, and he remains South Africa's leading wicket taker with 199 victims to his name, but his poor performance with the bat in recent times sees his place in the side now come under real threat.

New Zealand lost 4-1 in the Caribbean on their last outing, but with two of the Tests they lost going right down to the wire, they actually emerged from that series with a fair amount of credit, and they will be looking to build on their progress in South Africa. John Reid retains the captaincy after some improving personal performances, and the squad that he leads is strengthened by the addition of Chris Cairns, who is finally eligible for selection in the ATG arena. The inclusion of Cairns adds to the number of top-class all rounders that are likely to be on display in this series, but South Africa must still be viewed as hot favourites, not only to take the series but also to claim the number two spot in the rankings behind West Indies.

Current form (most recent result first)
South Africa WWLWD
New Zealand WLLLL

Previous series result
South Africa 2 New Zealand 0 (Season III, 3 Tests)

New Zealand Squad
JR Reid (c), MD Crowe (v/c), SL Boock, CL Cairns, J Cowie, MP Donnelly, RJ Hadlee, GP Howarth, AH Jones, DK Morrison, AC Parore, DN Patel, B Sutcliffe, BR Taylor, GM Turner.