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Strauss looking forward to facing Proteas' pace

09/07/2008

England batsman Andrew Strauss believes the pace of South Africa's bowlers will make run-scoring easier than it was in the last Test series against New Zealand.

The Middlesex man described the Black Caps' attack as "very disciplined but without so much pace" and said he is eagerly anticipating the challenge of facing arguably the quickest all-round bowling unit in the world in the upcoming series.

At their disposal South Africa have the world's second-best bowler in Dale Steyn, as well as the vicious express deliveries of Makhaya Ntini and Morne Morkel.

But rather than being apprehensive about the pace these players can generate, Strauss said he would be looking to score heavily in the series by playing each ball on its merits.

"If they bowl well it's going to be hard work," he said.

"But if they're slightly offline then more pace on the ball will provide more opportunities as well.

"You need to get less of a bat on it for it to go to the boundary."

Strauss continued: "It's a bit of a balancing act – on the one hand they probably feel like they've got more ways of getting you out; on the other hand you feel like you've got more ways of scoring.

"All it boils down to is how well and how accurately do they bowl and how clear are you in your gameplan in how you're going to counteract that.

"One out of the two is going to win the battle, and hopefully it's me as the batsman."

Strauss also dismissed the suggestion that he could be more likely to get injured when facing the quicker bowlers of the South African side.

"In Test cricket you are really just concentrating on not getting out and getting runs," he added.

"Your physical wellbeing comes well down your list of priorities."

The first of four Tests between South Africa and England, the world's second- and fourth-best nations according to the latest ICC rankings, begins at Lord's tomorrow.

And Strauss believes it could provide a platform for either one of the two sides to overhaul Australia at the top of the tree.

"Both teams are aware that this is a very important series for them," he explaineed.

"They want to win it in order to use it as a launchpad to be the number one side in the world.

"It's going to be competitive, hard cricket but the players will all get on fine and it's going to be a series played in good spirit as well."