Colly - no extra needle

Collingwood: back in charge

You're going to see some very good, hard-fought cricket but I don't think there's going to be any extra needle because of what's gone on before.

Paul Collingwood
Quotes of the week

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James Anderson, Graham Onions and Graeme Swann have all been declared fit for England's opening Twenty20 international against South Africa at the Wanderers on Friday.

The trio have all been battling slight niggles during the opening week of the tour but have recovered sufficiently to feature in the Johannesburg clash.

However, Stuart Broad and Kevin Pietersen will both miss the match due to injury, while Test and one-day skipper Andrew Strauss is again not considered in the short format.

Nottinghamshire seamer Broad jarred his right shoulder while fielding against the Diamond Eagles in the tour opener.

Pietersen is nearing full fitness after three months out following Achilles surgery. The Hampshire batsman is expected to return in the five-match one-day international series that starts on November 20.

Skipper switch

Strauss' absence can be seen as a blow for England, especially considering his current form, which has seen him hit scores of 72 and 117 not out in his two 50-over warm-up games so far.

But Paul Collingwood, who will again take the reins in the shortest format, believes the Middlesex batsman's decision to no longer play T20 should be respected.

"He's made the decision a while back. He's always said that he doesn't enjoy Twenty20 cricket, probably because of the fact that he's never done that well in Twenty20 cricket," said Collingwood, who oversaw a four-wicket loss to South Africa A in England's only T20 warm-up on Tuesday.

"But his game is developing all the time. He was always good at Test cricket and has developed into a world-class one-day cricketer.

"I'm sure he'll be able to make the next step but, at the moment, we have two important games coming up Friday and Sunday. He's obviously not available for that and that's the decision he has made."

Collingwood is not expecting any hard feelings between the England and South Africa players when they meet for the first time since a stormy encounter at the Champions Trophy in September.

Proteas skipper Graeme Smith and Strauss had a well-documented confrontation in the middle after Smith was denied a runner when suffering from cramp.

"I think what you're going to have over the next three months in South Africa are two teams that are desperate to win," added Collingwood.

Sensible

"You're going to see some very good, hard-fought cricket but I don't think there's going to be any extra needle because of what's gone on before.

"I think both captains are very sensible in terms of how they lead out in the field and we just want to get on with the game of cricket out in the middle.

"There has obviously been some ICC say on the matter and the understanding is that the decision that was made on that day by the umpires regarding cramp was the right one. So all the players are happy with that."

South Africa are hoping to give each member of their 15-man squad a run out during the two-match series, which concludes on Sunday at Centurion.

"The one possible exception is Wayne Parnell," said South Africa coach Mickey Arthur.

"We are monitoring his ankle on a daily basis and will be guided by our medical and fitness teams on when he will be ready to play again."

South Africa (from): G Smith (captain), Y Abdulla, L Bosman, J Botha, M Boucher (wkt), AB de Villiers, JP Duminy, J Kallis, H Kuhn (wkt), C Langeveldt, R McLaren, A Morkel, W Parnell, D Steyn, R van der Merwe

England (from): P Collingwood (captain), J Denly, A Cook, J Trott, E Morgan, M Prior (wkt), L Wright, T Bresnan, A Rashid, G Swann, S Mahmood, G Onions, J Anderson