England had just completed a victorious series against New Zealand, but seemed flattered by the tourists reliance on a couple of key players. The South Africans would provide a much more useful yardstick of Ray Illingworth's management of the team, and there were still doubts over middle order batsmen Robin Smith and Graeme Hick and the strength of the bowling, despite Phillip DeFreitas's re-emergence. New caps Darren Gough and Craig White had looked promising against New Zealand, but had yet to be seriously tested.