Trio lift England before Twenty20
First Twenty20 international: South Africa v England
Venue: Johannesburg Starts: Friday, 13 November at 1600 GMT
Coverage: Test Match Special commentary on BBC Radio 5 live sports extra, BBC Radio 4 Long Wave and BBC Sport website (UK users only). Live text commentary on BBC Sport website & mobiles. Also live on Sky Sports
 Swann has proved himself an integral part of the England set-up |
England have been boosted ahead of the first Twenty20 match with South Africa after Graeme Swann, Graham Onions and James Anderson were declared fit.
The trio were all carrying knocks but could start, unlike Stuart Broad and Kevin Pietersen.
Broad is recovering from a shoulder injury, while Pietersen will not be risked after an Achilles problem.
And opener Alastair Cook faces a race against time to prove his fitness after coming down with a sore throat.
Test and one-day captain Andrew Strauss is definitely unavailable, having opted not to play in the shortest form of the game, so Paul Collingwood leads the side.
However, England will hope to shake off their four-wicket Twenty20 defeat to South Africa A earlier in the week and get back to the form of their early tour matches, which saw them beat the Warriors and the Eagles by eight wickets and 185 runs respectively.
A star player in the match against the Eagles was Jonathan Trott, who scored 85 in that match and who is expected to play at number three against the Proteas on Friday.
Warwickshire batsman Trott, 28, was born in Cape Town and came through the South African system and represented the Proteas in both the Under-15 and Under-19 World Cups.
However, having qualified through his British ancestry and representing Warwickshire since 2003, Trott is now a key member of the England side, having scored a century on his Test debut in the Ashes this summer.
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And South Africa coach Mickey Arthur admits he is frustrated at the sight of Trott playing for England, saying: "He wouldn't be in our top six at the moment because our line-up is settled and has a lot of steel, but he'd be there or thereabouts.
"It does frustrate a bit to be honest. But hats off to him; he's gone away and forged a successful career for himself."
Another player who has made himself an important part of the England side is Graham Onions, who Arthur believes can make up for the absence of Steve Harmison in South Africa.
"Graham Onions impressed us in the Champions Trophy," Arthur told The Wisden Cricketer magazine. "He is almost a like-for-like replacement for Harmison.
"Harmy would have been a handful and a lot of our batters are happy he's not coming. But I can see how (England team director) Andy Flower and Strauss are thinking.
"England seem to have something quite nice going. It reminds me a bit of where we were two years ago. They've looked at the brand of cricket they want to play, backed a couple of players and also swept clean a bit.
| He's a great character to have in the dressing room and that can only be a real positive Collingwood on Pietersen |
"They're going about it the right way. The leadership was exceptional during the Ashes. They look like a well-settled unit."
Meanwhile, Twenty20 captain Collingwood admits the return of Pietersen - who should be back for the one-dayers - has given the team a boost.
"When KP comes back in the side, what he brings is a world-class player, it's as simple as that," said the Durham all-rounder.
"He's going to be available from the Potchefstroom game (tour match versus South Africa A) and we're all looking forward to him coming back into that starting line-up because we all know what he can do with the bat.
"He's a great character to have in the dressing room and that can only be a real positive for us because we've missed him over the past few months.
"You always miss a guy who can play the shots that he can play and we look forward to him coming back in."
(www.bbc.co.uk)
