Arthur: backing his fast bowlers

This team wants to leave its footprint here.

Mickey Arthur
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South Africa coach Mickey Arthur believes his side have the bowling firepower to overcome England in the forthcoming four-Test series.

The Proteas plan to put the emphasis on pace with the likes of Makhaya Ntini, Dale Steyn and Morne Morkel all capable of bowling in excess of 90mph.

Arthur is confident South Africa will triumph in England for the first time since returning to the international fold - providing their top-order batsmen put enough runs on the board to back up their attack.

"I see whether England can cope with our attack as a key element to this series. I think it will be a huge decisive factor," he said.

"I believe we have an attack that can take 20 wickets in a game. I believe we have got an attack that has variety.

"When we went about rebuilding our attack, we wanted three strikers that could bowl fast speeds, plus (Jacques) Kallis who can swing it and do a holding job for us, and the spinner.

"We believe we have achieved that - but our top-seven batsmen are going to be crucial.

Confident

"If our top seven can give us starts, like they've done all year, and put the runs on the board, we have the attack that can take the wickets. I am confident with where we are as a team at the moment."

Arthur has studied England's batsmen closely during the recent Test series with New Zealand and believes the lower middle-order is a weakness.

"I watched the series pretty closely and I think England as a batting unit didn't fire," he added.

"One or two batters fired in every Test which got them to respectable totals, but they didn't fire as a unit and there was some pressure at five and six.

"Since unity happened in the 1990s, we have never won here. This team wants to leave its footprint here. We want to be the first team since unity to win in England.

"We've been building up. There were three major series that captain Graeme Smith and I worked towards as a leadership team - India in India, England in England and Australia in Australia.

"We have them all in the space of nine months, which is a huge challenge for us.

"But the squad is hugely excited at coming to England. The cricket culture here is huge so we are really looking forward to doing well here."

South Africa start their tour with a three-day fixture against Somerset at Taunton beginning on Sunday.