The batting is a strong unit

The batting is a strong unit."Woolmer believes his knowledge of the England players will count in South Africa's favour "I hope it will give us an edge," he said. Mark Ramprakash forced his way in as the seventh batsman through sheer weight of runs. "Devon Malcolm might have a slight psychological advantage after what he did to South Africa at The Oval last year, although I believe we will be much better prepared for him. Dominic Cork had a terrific summer against the West Indies and, like Darren Gough, he has a good competitive spirit and is capable of lower-order runs. And both of them came here with the A squad, along with Mark Ilott, so they won't be under-prepared."Woolmer acknowledged that England should have a strong batting line-up when he added: "They are established and five of them have proven records. "Perhaps the fact that Illingworth has experience of South African conditions after coaching in Natal counted in his favour," he said.Although Woolmer recognises England's fast bowling talent, he feels his own troops are much stronger in that department. Our strengths traditionally lie with our fast bowlers, and obviously still do."Our groundsmen aren't likely to prepare slow, turning wickets with Allan Donald, Fanie de Villiers and Brett Schultz as our main weapons."Woolmer expressed slight surprise that spinner Richard Illingworth was chosen ahead of Phil Tufnell by England.

Cricket South Africa are anticipating a long, hot summer series dominated by fast bowling after analysing England's selection for the five-Test tour, which starts next month. The country's cricket coach, the former England Test player and Warwickshire coach Bob Woolmer, said: "They haven't picked many spinners so they obviously think they can blast us out with their quick bowlers."Now we are aware of their tactics we will prepare for them. He was full of admiration for Faustino Asprilla, whose skill he thought made him one of the world's finest.For most of us, however, Higuita's audacious display will live longer in the memory.. It was quite delightful."The England coach believed the Colombians provided ample evidence of why they managed to finish third behind Brazil and Uruguay in this summer's Copa America. "Redknapp handled the ball well, while Barmby showed his intelligence running in and around Alan Shearer. "He was a bit nervy at the start, but he got over it and was clearly up for the game, despite the pressure he was under. He's so good for the rest of the team, he lifts everyone, he's infectious."Venables singled out two relative newcomers to the squad - Redknapp and Nick Barmby - for praise.

"I think the boys are pretty upset about that, in fact it's the only thing they're upset about."Paul Gascoigne, starting his first game for his country in 18 months, was among those to receive his manager's approval. We'll leave that to him, he's the only one who can do it."Naturally, Venables was more concerned with his own team's virtuoso performances and, although none of them may have been quite as sensational as Higuita's, Venables declared himself more than satisfied "The quality of the chances were good," he said. "We won't be teaching our goalkeeper that, even if it does bring back the crowds. CLIVE WHITE Not since Jan Tomaszewski frustrated England's World Cup ambitions over two decades ago has Wembley seen a goalkeeping performance or, more accurately, a save, to rival the one with which Rene Higuita denied Jamie Redknapp last night. "I've never seen anything quite like that," said Terry Venables, the England coach. Twice in the opening 15 minutes Shearer looked like improving his goal count for England, first with a lob against the bar with Higuita beaten and then with a fierce shot from Barmby's pass that caused the Colombian keeper considerable anxiety as he stretched to palm the ball away.As Venables sent out a young team he has every reason to approach the coming months with some optimism, even if there are plenty of things to occupy his attention.In all, England struck the woodwork three times but as David Seaman was required to be at his best in the England goal, making at least two outstanding saves, it was never a game that England could be confident of winning.. Considering also extortionate pricing in the Premiership, the cost of a night out at Wembley - pounds 7 to park and pounds 4 for a programme on top of a match ticket - and that Sky television's advance publicity reaches only a small proportion of the public, it was not surprising that the great majority of seats were empty.There is a substantial case for staging these matches in provincial settings, but because of the Football Association's contractual obligation to Wembley, preparations for next summer's European Championship will not be enlivened by fervent support.This was the same last night because England gave by far the most purposeful and encouraging performance under Venables, what he is seeking in terms of collective endeavour becoming clearer against opponents of high quality.That progress was achieved at the expense of some anxiety in defence will however cause England's coach to think even more deeply about the problems that unquestionably lie ahead.It was a quite extraordinary match with numerous shooting opportunities falling to both teams and Colombia's flamboyant goalkeeper Rene Higuita once clearing a shot with his heels after performing a handstand worthy of any circus acrobat.Combining instinctive trickery and intelligent grouping with sudden switches in play and successful attempts at luring England's central defenders out of position, Colombia confirmed the reputation that preceded them to last year's World Cup in the USA, one that was to collapse in mysterious circumstances.However, England's movement off the ball and their spirited attempts to gain possession was always commendable and an encouraging blend quickly developed between Alan Shearer and Nick Barmby.