South Africa now head to Lord's for the Test against England, which starts on Thursday, and despite the disappointing end against Middlesex, coach Mickey Arthur said he was satisfied with their preparations for the series.

"I'm pretty sure we've done the work we need to have done - and I'm confident we're right now," he commented.

"You can feel in the dressing room the boys are ready for the Test and just want to get cracking in the series now. We're counting down the hours - that is how ready I feel we are as a group.

"Each day is delaying it. We just want to start playing now and get our teeth into the series."

He continued: "South Africa have never won in England since unity, so it is something we've put pretty high on our agendas.

"The guys deserve to be tipped highly. But that counts for nothing - it's about how we're going to bat and how we're going to bowl. That's all we're interested in."

Assessing the England team, Arthur added:: "They are in a slight transitional period - probably where we were a year ago in terms of the make-up of their side and getting their combinations right, refreshing and bringing new faces in.

"But they're a very, very good Test cricket team. They will take a lot of beating, and we are going to have to play really well." .