'England players in Test mode now'

England's coach Duncan Fletcher has dismissed his side's loss to South Africa A and said the team were now focused on the first Test.

England coach Duncan Fletcher has dismissed his side's embarrassing loss to South Africa A and said the team were now focused on the first Test match against South Africa starting on Friday.

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A first-choice England side were humbled by seven wickets in Potchefstroom in their only first-class match before the first Test in Port Elizabeth.

"You often treat those matches as practice matches," said Fletcher at a news conference. "You're trying to occupy the crease and score some runs but you're also trying to win.

"Some players just lose interest in those sort of games, they turn it on for Test cricket.

"We've had a couple of meetings and the ... players realise we're playing Test cricket now."

South African all rounder Andrew Hall was also sceptical about England's defeat.

"England might have been experimenting, but we're very well prepared and it's going to be interesting to see how they bounce back," said Hall.

England's only selection issue is whether to play James Anderson or Simon Jones as the third seamer behind the new-ball pair of Stephen Harmison and Matthew Hoggard. Jones played in the Potchefstroom match.

South Africa could be forced into fielding an all-seam attack due to the slow recovery from surgery of left-arm spinner Nicky Boje. Fast bowler Dale Steyn is expected to make his debut if Boje is ruled out.

Opening batsman AB de Villiers is also expected to earn his first cap for the South Africans, who have six other players apart from Boje recovering from injury and illness.

All rounder Jacques Kallis, who did not bowl in India in November, is not expected to bowl in Port Elizabeth.

Teams:

South Africa (from): Graeme Smith (captain), AB de Villiers, Jacques Rudolph, Jacques Kallis, Hashim Amla, Zander de Bruyn, Andrew Hall, Shaun Pollock, Thami Tsolekile, Makhaya Ntini, Dale Steyn, Nicky Boje, Boeta Dippenaar

England (from): Michael Vaughan (captain), James Anderson, Gareth Batty, Mark Butcher, Paul Collingwood, Andrew Flintoff, Ashley Giles, Stephen Harmison, Matthew Hoggard, Geraint Jones, Simon Jones, Robert Key, Chris Read, Andrew Strauss, Graham Thorpe, Marcus Trescothick