Mickey Arthur eyes flexibility against England

South Africa coach Mickey Arthur wants his players to be at full strength ahead of the "huge" series against England. Before playing England, South Africa will face Zimbabwe for two ODIs, a brief fixture Arthur said had been arranged to give the team a chance to play together and work on new combinations ahead of the bigger picture.

South Africa have had a good year in ODIs with series wins over Australia both home and away, but had a disappointing Champions Trophy where they were knocked out in the league phase. They are respected by opponents for the meticulousness of their preparation, but once again it was their predictability which came back to haunt them in the ICC Champions Trophy, as Arthur candidly acknowledged.

"We were rusty going into that tournament," he told reporters in Johannesburg. "Things had worked so well for us in one-day cricket that maybe we were a bit predictable. We are looking for more flexibility against England. Any series against England is huge and we want to make sure we are well prepared for our matches against them."

South Africa and Zimbabwe last faced each other in an ODI more than two years ago, in August 2007. They will meet at Willowmore Park in Benoni and SuperSport Park in Centurion on November 8 and November 10 respectively. "The Zimbabwe matches will get us playing together again as a unit and we want to go into the England series hot," said Arthur.

The first Twenty20 international against England is in Johannesburg on November 13.