English cricket is a year into the New Age. Twelve months ago, before the one-day matches against the Australians, the England selectors and coaching staff began to think seriously about international limited-overs cricket.

Embarrassment and humiliation can set the brain cells into overdrive and England had been embarrassed in the shorter form of the game for 18 months, almost without respite. Enough was enough.

Eight wins in 12 matches since then have given rise to optimism, even if all four defeats came in a row at the end of the winter and were bubble-bursters of the first order.

Nothing daunted, England have next year's World Cup in their sights. They have a strategy and the nucleus of a squad and, all being well, the players will be fine-tuned over the next eight months.

The process begins at The Oval today against South Africa, currently recognised as the most disciplined, focused and technically sound in the business. In the past year they have won 18 of 22 matches played. Examinations do not come any tougher than this for England, who have won only once in their past eight meetings - all of them abroad.

There is variety in the tourists' bowling, with Shaun Pollock and Lance Klusener sharing the new ball, Allan Donald providing a cutting edge in mid-innings and Hansie Cronje and Jacques Kallis also bowling seam. Their fielding, at times, borders on the miraculous.

But it is the batting, regarded as weak in Test match terms, that contrasts favourably with England's one-day achievements.

A number of England players - in particular Chris Lewis and the new caps Darren Maddy and Chris Adams - will be under particular scrutiny this week but none more so than the captain Adam Hollioake.

His appointment for this series rather than the whole summer is an act of faith tempered with caution by selectors who regard the winter as a learning curve.

England (from): N V Knight, A J Stewart (wkt), C J Adams, D L Maddy, A J Hollioake (capt), M A Ealham, C C Lewis, A F Giles, R D B Croft, D Gough, G P Thorpe (or N Hussain), A D Brown, A R C Fraser.

South Africa (probable): G Kirsten, G F J Liebenberg, J H Kallis, D J Cullinan, W J Cronje (capt), J N Rhodes, S M Pollock, M V Boucher (wkt), L Klusener, P L Symcox, A A Donald.

Umpires: P Willey and J C Balderstone.