After having a week to reflect on the first two matches of the South Africa series, James Taylor believes England are in a perfect position to push for series victory when the third Test starts in Johannesburg on Thursday.

South Africa fought back in Cape Town after the tourists had taken a series lead with a 241-run victory in the first Test, Hashim Amla’s return to form with a double century ensuring the hosts secured a draw.

And with England leading the four-match series 1-0, Taylor believes the first day in Johannesburg will go a long way to deciding if they will win the series at the Wanderers.

“As good as it's been to have a few days of downtime after back-to-back Tests, we're all ready for the off in Johannesburg,” Taylor said.

“We know that if we win this Test we win the series, so it's going to be a massive first day; it's important for us to get into the game early but also to not look too far ahead.

“South Africa did well to come back at us but I always felt that we were in control because our bowlers kept the run-rate at three an over - the guys deserve massive credit for that.

“Even though we weren't taking wickets consistently, we never let South Africa get away in the 211 overs we were in the field.

“Some people have made a big deal out of the chances that went down but bar one or two they were all very hard. You're not going to catch every one that comes your way in 211 overs.

“We set very high standards for ourselves and we've worked hard in training this week to match up to those.

“In the last year our catching has been very good - especially in the Ashes, when it was unbelievable - so I don't think there's anything to over-think.”

The time in between the second and third Tests also gave the squad some downtime with a number of players exploring different parts of the country.

However, for Taylor, his mind was never far away from the cricket and especially the knock from Ben Stokes at Newlands.

“Alex Hales and I spent time catching up with Nottinghamshire team-mate Brendan Taylor, who came over from Zimbabwe with his wife to see us, and generally I've been chilling by the pool,” he said.

“Others have been more adventurous. Jos joined a group that went shark-diving (they didn't see any), Broady and Finny visited a rhino project and a few of the boys went to a lion park.

“I'm going to try and stay on after the ODIs and do a couple of days' safari at Kings Camp in Kruger National Park, which should be great, but for now it's all about the cricket.

“During the second Test we saw some of the best hitting from Stokesy that you're ever likely to see; I don't think many people in an England shirt will ever bat like that.

“He was spot on when he said afterwards ‘I will probably never play like this ever again in my life, but I've done it once, so at least I can say that’. That was such a good quote.

“The way that he and Jonny took it to South Africa in the first session - Stokesy scoring 130 alone - was immense.

“I was nervous when he first started to play his shots simply because I wanted to see more; everything he did came off and it was an unbelievable spectacle.

“The crowd more than played their part - some of the chants, the Moeen Ali-Hashim Amla one in particular, was so good. The only thing that stopped it was when Stokesy got to 200!

“It was special to see the way Jonny compiled his maiden hundred, keeping his cool when a lot of players would have got giddy at the other end and tried to compete with Stokesy.”

The squads move to the Wanderers with England able to pick from a fully fit squad after some players, including Hales and Nick Compton, recovered from bugs going around the camp.

South Africa meanwhile will be under new leadership, that of AB de Villiers, after Amla stepped down following the second Test and will be without Dale Steyn who has failed to recover from a shoulder injury sustained in the first Test.

Despite being without Steyn, the hosts look set to go with an all-out pace attack after releasing frontline spinner Dane Piedt from the squad. 

 

England are returning to the scene of their Ashes triumph in 2016 for Royal London One-Day Internationals against Sri Lanka and Pakistan.

Don't miss the opportunity to watch some of the best players in the world go toe-to-toe in the unique surroundings of Trent Bridge and secure your seats now.