Middlesex (311-5) drew with South Africa (359-5 dec)
South Africa have prioritised this week's Npower Test series to such an extent that their planning has been going on for two years, the team's coach, Mickey Arthur, revealed yesterday.
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In the 16 years since their return to Test cricket, South Africa have won series all around the world, even in such challenging terrain as India and Sri Lanka. But the two frontiers they have never conquered are England and Australia - a statistic that Arthur and his men are determined to change.
"There is a special buzz about the dressing room at the moment," Arthur said. "We have been building up to this tour for two years now. South Africa have never won in England since unity, so it has been pretty high on our agendas."
The South Africans' final day of match preparation at Uxbridge was washed out yesterday by heavy showers. However, that was no problem for Arthur, who has said all week that he prefers two-day warm-up matches, where each side bats for 100 overs. When played on good pitches, the third day of these first-class games tends to just dribble away into a stultifying draw.
From South Africa's perspective, the only disadvantage of the wet weather was that Graeme Smith did not get another innings to ease himself back into the middle after his month-long break through a hamstring strain. Smith lacked fluency on Friday, when it took him the whole of the morning session to eke out 35 runs.
"It took Graeme a while to get going," Arthur conceded. "I thought in the half-hour before lunch he was moving properly again, making good positions.
"With those major players, all it takes is a mental shift. Their techniques and their roles are so defined, and in Graeme's case I think he should feel right after a couple of nets."
The other concern for South Africa might be the figures of their left-arm spinner Paul Harris, who normally bowls 20-odd overs a day to give the four seamers a break. Harris fulfilled that same role at Uxbridge on Saturday, but wound up with figures of 20-0-111-1, which would be catastrophic in a Test.
"Some of the shots that were played against him on Saturday I can't see too many of the England top six playing," said Arthur. "They would be too risky. But we would be in a fool's paradise if we didn't think England would target him. The role he is going to play is going to be a holding job, that's no secret. He has played that role quite well for us, to let the quicks rotate from the other end, and if I was strategising in the other camp, I'd also be looking at taking him on a bit.
"We're aware of that, he's aware of that, and it's something he's going to have to deal with. I have been stressing to him that he could handle it in two ways: he could step up to the plate or he could back down, and I'm confident he will take the right option. That's something we've been talking about in our little one-on-ones, it's building him up to believe that he is ready to do that job, and ready for anything that comes."
Like his former Warwickshire team-mate Ashley Giles, Harris tends to bowl over the wicket. He was harshly treated by Middlesex's top five on Saturday - but then they are all left-handers, and so have a natural advantage when it come to hitting him through the off-side.
While England may have a pair of lefties opening the innings, in Alastair Cook and Andrew Strauss, their middle-order is made up of right-handers all the way down to Stuart Broad at No. 8. And, as Arthur points out, it will be a brave man who tries to hit Harris out of the leg-side rough.
"South Africa got by without a spinner for too long," Arthur added. "I can't see any team in cricket getting to where we want to be - which is No 1 in the world - without having a spinner as an integral part of their side. At the Wanderers last year, the temptation was to play Shaun Pollock on a green pitch that was green, but we kept faith with Harry because we want to make him feel he belongs. Again, it was all part of the process of getting this team where it needs to be."
