Four months have elapsed since England achieved their crowning glory of 2009, against Australia on August 23, when Andrew Strauss lifted the Ashes following his team’s 197-run victory in the fifth Test at The Oval. For South Africa, meanwhile, it is a year to the month since they themselves reached Nirvana, Down Under in December 2008, when they won their first Test series in Australia with a brace of stunning victories at Perth and Melbourne.

Now, the two teams come head-to-head in a contest that could yet prove to be the most compelling series of the year. England and South Africa have vied and tussled for the upper hand ever since their first meeting of the post-Apartheid era in 1994 – in that time, South Africa have won three series to England’s two, with two drawn rubbers, although neither side has yet managed a series win by more than a single Test’s margin.

As England demonstrated back in 2005 (but are now at pains to disprove four years later), there is a danger inherent in overcoming Australia – particularly where these two teams are concerned. Subconsciously or otherwise, it can be regarded as an end in itself rather than a means, and much to South Africa’s chagrin, they squandered their ascendancy – and ultimately their title of No. 1 side in the world – by allowing themselves to be overturned on home soil by a rookie Australian line-up in the return series in March, which also happens to have been their most recent Test encounter.

Match : South Africa vs England 1st Test
Date: 16th Dec 2009
Venue: Centurion
Time: Match scheduled to begin at 10:30 local time (08:30 GMT)

South Africa vs England Live Streaming free Link:

South Africa vs England 1st Test Live Streaming

South Africa squad
GC Smith*, HM Amla, MV Boucher†, AB de Villiers, F de Wet, JP Duminy, PL Harris, JH Kallis, M Morkel, M Ntini, AG Prince, DW Steyn

England squad
AJ Strauss*, AN Cook, JM Anderson, IR Bell, SCJ Broad, PD Collingwood, M Davies, SM Davies†, G Onions, KP Pietersen, LE Plunkett, MJ Prior†, AU Rashid, RJ Sidebottom, GP Swann, JC Tredwell, IJL Trott, LJ Wright

Somewhat astonishingly, England stand on the verge of their first ODI series victory in South Africa, and their second in consecutive rubbers against Graeme Smith’s men following their 4-0 victory at home in 2008. After three fluctuating performances and a washout at the Wanderers, they have emerged with a 2-1 series lead – a scoreline that they have reached on merit thanks to two dominant performances at Centurion and Port Elizabeth. The fact that those games were punctuated by a record-breaking thumping at Newlands merely underlines the ongoing battle for consistency that is forever England’s weakness.

Match : South Africa vs England 5th ODI
Date: 4th Dec 2009
Venue: Durban
Time: Match scheduled to begin at 14:30 local time (12:30 GMT)

South Africa vs England Live Streaming free Link:

South Africa vs England 5th ODI Live Streaming

South Africa squad
GC Smith*, HM Amla, J Botha, MV Boucher†, AB de Villiers, JP Duminy, HH Gibbs, CK Langeveldt, R McLaren, JA Morkel, M Morkel, WD Parnell, AN Petersen, DW Steyn, LL Tsotsobe, RE van der Merwe

England squad
AJ Strauss*, JM Anderson, TT Bresnan, SCJ Broad, PD Collingwood, AN Cook, JL Denly, SI Mahmood, EJG Morgan, G Onions, KP Pietersen, LE Plunkett, MJ Prior†, AU Rashid, GP Swann, JC Tredwell, IJL Trott, LJ Wright

Match : South Africa vs England 3rd ODI
Date: 27th Nov 2009
Venue: Cape Town
Time: Match scheduled to begin at 14:30 local time (12:30 GMT)

South Africa vs England Live Streaming free Link:

South Africa vs England 3rd ODI Live Streaming

South Africa squad
GC Smith*, HM Amla, J Botha, MV Boucher†, AB de Villiers, JP Duminy, HH Gibbs, CK Langeveldt, R McLaren, JA Morkel, M Morkel, WD Parnell, AN Petersen, DW Steyn, LL Tsotsobe, RE van der Merwe

England squad
AJ Strauss*, JM Anderson, TT Bresnan, SCJ Broad, PD Collingwood, AN Cook, JL Denly, SI Mahmood, EJG Morgan, G Onions, KP Pietersen, LE Plunkett, MJ Prior†, AU Rashid, GP Swann, JC Tredwell, IJL Trott, LJ Wright

Match : South Africa vs England 1st ODI
Date: 20th Nov 2009
Venue: Johannesburg, New Wanderers Stadium
Time: Match scheduled to begin at 14:30 local time (12:30 GMT)

England and South Africa shared last week’s Twenty20 series 1-1, but that scoreline disguises the staggering gulf that emerged between the sides in the second of the two fixtures at Centurion. Eoin Morgan’s unbeaten 85 from 45 balls in the first match had set English pulses racing, but two days later, his effort was put into stark context by Loots Bosman and Graeme Smith, whose world-record 170-run opening stand came from a ridiculously rapid 13 overs.

South Africa duly won a farcically one-sided contest by 84 runs (and by 17 sixes to six), in a declaration of intent that has since been backed up by Mickey Arthur’s bellicose comments in the press. “No more Mr Nice Guys” is the message being sent out, and England’s South African middle-order of Jonathan Trott and Kevin Pietersen can expect to bear the brunt of the new nasty edge.

Pietersen, however, has seen it all before – nothing will ever compare to the reception he received on his first tour to South Africa in 2004-05, and on that occasion he responded with three centuries in five innings. Trott, meanwhile, has been one of England’s most consistent performers on the tour so far, most recently in the warm-up at Potchefstroom, where he made 78 from 89 balls to overcome South Africa A.

South Africa vs England Live Streaming free Link:

South Africa vs England 1st ODI Live Streaming

South Africa squad
GC Smith*, HM Amla, J Botha, MV Boucher†, AB de Villiers, JP Duminy, JH Kallis, CK Langeveldt, R McLaren, JA Morkel, WD Parnell, AN Petersen, DW Steyn, LL Tsotsobe, RE van der Merwe

England squad
AJ Strauss*, JM Anderson, TT Bresnan, SCJ Broad, PD Collingwood, AN Cook, JL Denly, SI Mahmood, EJG Morgan, G Onions, KP Pietersen, LE Plunkett, MJ Prior†, AU Rashid, GP Swann, JC Tredwell, IJL Trott, LJ Wright

South Africa are left needing to win the second Twenty20 to square the series and finish the first phase of this long head-to-head on even terms. They will want to sharpen their bowling skills after they tended to feed Morgan’s leg-side strength, but Centurion should offer more high-scoring conditions. The main concern for England is the number of niggles the players are already picking up with James Anderson and Graeme Swann missing training along with Collingwood.

England are carrying a number of players with minor niggles. Collingwood (back), Anderson (knee) and Swann (side) all missed training as a precaution and face morning fitness tests ahead of the game. With Stuart Broad still recovering from his shoulder injury, Kevin Pietersen not due to return until Tuesday and Andrew Strauss opting out of Twenty20 the squad could be stretched. Adil Rashid and Graham Onions are the two players who didn’t appear in the opening match.

Match : South Africa vs England 2nd Twenty20
Date: 15th Nov 2009
Venue: SuperSport Park, Centurion
Time: Match scheduled to begin at 14:30 local time (12:30 GMT)

South Africa vs England Live Streaming free Link:

South Africa vs England 2nd T20 Live Streaming

South Africa vs England 2nd Twenty20 Live Streaming

South Africa squad
GC Smith*, YA Abdulla, LL Bosman, J Botha, MV Boucher†, AB de Villiers, JP Duminy, JH Kallis, HG Kuhn, CK Langeveldt, R McLaren, JA Morkel, WD Parnell, DW Steyn, RE van der Merwe
England squad
AJ Strauss*, JM Anderson, TT Bresnan, SCJ Broad, PD Collingwood, AN Cook, JL Denly, SI Mahmood, EJG Morgan, G Onions, KP Pietersen, MJ Prior†, AU Rashid, GP Swann, IJL Trott, LJ Wright

England’s two-and-a-half-month tour of South Africa begins in earnest on Friday with the first of two Twenty20 internationals at the Wanderers as both sides look to make an opening statement. Having the one-day leg of the tour first means it won’t be buried after the main event of the Tests and should retain importance.

The winners will say Twenty20 allows them to build momentum, while the losers will quickly brush off the significance of the matches ahead of the one-day series next week. However, there is still a sense, outside of the World Twenty20, that internationally this format is still the third priority.

South Africa, on the other hand, were hitting their stride against Zimbabwe with a crushing 212-run victory in the second ODI at Centurion. The home side will use the Twenty20s as a chance to give all the players in the squad a run, with the exception of the injured Wayne Parnell, but there is also the need to prepare for next year’s ICC World Twenty20. For both teams the next two matches could be the only Twenty20 games they play before that global event in West Indies.

Match : South Africa vs England 1st Twenty20
Date: 13th Nov 2009
Venue: New Wanderers Stadium, Johannesburg
Time: Match scheduled to begin at 18:00 local time (16:00 GMT)

South Africa vs England Live Streaming free Link:

South Africa vs England 1st T20 Live Streaming

South Africa vs England 1st Twenty20 Live Streaming

South Africa Graeme Smith (capt), Loots Bosman, AB de Villiers, JP Duminy, Albie Morkel, Mark Boucher (wk), Ryan McLaren, Roelof van der Merwe, Johan Botha, Dale Steyn, Charl Langeveldt.

England Joe Denly, Alastair Cook, Jonathan Trott, Paul Collingwood (capt), Eoin Morgan, Matt Prior (wk), Luke Wright, Tim Bresnan, Graeme Swann, Sajid Mahmood, James Anderson