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Cricket

South Africa series 'second only to the Ashes'

10/07/2008

England captain Michael Vaughan believes the upcoming Test series against South Africa comes second only to the Ashes against Australia in terms of importance.

The four-match series is scheduled to begin later today at Lord's and the Yorkshireman believes the Proteas present a big challenge to his side, who are unbeaten since the opening match of the Test series in New Zealand.

"I always think the South Africa series is nearly up there with the Ashes," he said.

"You obviously don't have the little urn to play for but it's always a really big series for the guys to play in and always a hard-fought contest.

"Playing South Africa is what Test match cricket is all about - getting out there and testing yourself against the best.

"The players in the team are very, very excited about coming up against this challenge and over the next five weeks we're going to find out how we have developed in terms of being a good Test team."

Historically, series' between England and South Africa have been niggly affairs.

Kevin Pietersen came in for some heavy criticism, both on and off the field, during the one-day series in South Africa three-and-a-half years ago.

And on the same tour, Vaughan and opposite number Graeme Smith had a heated disagreement over the use of floodlights during the Test match in Johannesburg, which led to some bad feeling between the teams.

However, the England captain believes both himself and his opposite number have changed since then and does not expect a repeat performance this time around.

"We had a little bit of a confrontation a few years ago but I've matured and Graeme's matured since then, we're both very experienced captains now," he explained.

"We'll both play it very tough but I also have huge respect for the job he's done in difficult circumstances in South Africa.

"He's generated a really, really good team."