Rain threatens the finale

It was a depressingly familiar scene for England's cricketers, as they arrived at Centurion to be greeted by damp overcast conditions for the third tour running. Their middle practice was aborted by a heavy squall and, under thick black cloud, Andrew Strauss contrived to drop virtually everything that came his way as the slips were put through their places by Duncan Fletcher.

But the more things change, the more they stay the same. In 1995-96, Centurion's inaugural Test was sawn off midway through the first innings by torrential rain and spectacular thunderstorms; and on England's last visit in 1999-2000, the middle of the Test was completely wiped out, only for Hansie Cronje and his leather-jacket-wielding accomplices to revive the match in nefarious circumstances on the final day.

On this occasion, however, England have less reason to regret the weather interruptions. With a 2-1 series lead in the bag, and all manner of injury niggles disrupting their preparations, five days of equally bleak conditions would suit them down to the ground, as they seek to become the first England team since MJK Smith's side in 1964-65 to win a Test series in South Africa.

The onus, therefore, is on South Africa to "go for broke", as their captain, Graeme Smith, admitted in his pre-match press conference. "Winning is our only option," he said. "The wicket is pretty green at the moment, and we expect it to swing, because that's what happens on the highveld in these conditions. There will come times in this match when we'll have to risk things, and maybe the selectors will be looking at one or two surprises."

The surprises, if they can be termed as such, are likely to come in the bowling department, for Smith's biggest worry has been the lack of support for his two star bowlers, Shaun Pollock and Makhaya Ntini. With the notable exception of Charl Langeveldt at Cape Town, these two have carried the attack virtually single-handed all tour. "The back-up has let us down," admitted Smith. "Every time we've had England in trouble, we've not been able to finish them off."

Langeveldt's hand injury is not being risked in this match, while Dale Steyn has been released from the squad after a promising but raw first foray into international cricket, so into the mix comes Andre Nel, whose raw aggression is likely to be matched by a return for the swing bowler, Andrew Hall, whose combative batting style will bulk out a middle order that has been notably flimsy at key moments in the series, not least the final afternoon at Johannesburg.

"Nelly is an in-your-face, bustling type of bowler," said Smith. "He's done well in the SuperSport Series, with 14 wickets in three innings, and he performed well here against West Indies last year. He's the type of bowler who'll give 100% every ball." Hall was one of the improbable stars of the 2003 series in England, and he should enjoy the juicy conditions that can be expected at Centurion this week. Battingwise, he seems likely to take over from Boeta Dippenaar, who scored a valuable century in the first Test at Port Elizabeth, but was particularly culpable for the manner of his dismissal in the second innings at the Wanderers.

Despite the satisfaction of England's victory at Jo'burg, Michael Vaughan remained in a peevish mood as he faced the press. Despite evidence to the contrary, not least the absence of Steve Harmison from this morning's training, he announced that England had a fully fit squad to choose from, but would not elaborate on the permutations that could come into play.

James Anderson's rusty performance at the Wanderers means that his place is once again under threat from Simon Jones, while Jon Lewis, who arrived as back-up ahead of the fourth Test, could find himself fast-tracked into the starting line-up if any late niggles kick in. "It is an option," admitted Vaughan. "He's here and available, and has been bowling in the nets every day since he arrived."

As for Harmison's situation, Vaughan was adamant that he would be fit to take his place, adding that he could only go by the medical reports he was given. "Kirk [Russell, the physio] felt he needed a bit more of a rest. But over the last year, we've seen what a huge threat he can be, and I still feel there's a bagful around the corner. South Africa would love for him not to be in the team, so we're delighted he's still in the mix. If we'd drawn or lost the last Test, I'm sure we'd be feeling a lot more tired than we are today."

For the second match running, Vaughan is returning to the scene of a notable moment in his career. After making his debut in the corresponding Wanderers Test of 1999-2000, he produced his first matchwinning innings at Centurion later on that tour, a classy 69 as England took advantage of Cronje's suggestion of a double forfeiture to win by two wickets in an admittedly thrilling finish.

"At the time, I thought no different about the situation," said Vaughan. "I was delighted to score my first fifty for England, and to pick up the Man-of-the-Match award was a bonus. Since then, it has come to light what happened, and it's very disappointing to feel I was involved in some way. But my only thought was to win the game. I had no inkling of what was happening."

If that was the sort of history that Vaughan would have preferred not to have been a part of, then by the end of this week, he may have made amends, by inflicting a very rare home series defeat on South Africa - only their third since readmission, and their first to any side other than the Australians.

"It looks like being a lively sort of wicket," admitted Vaughan. "It's been doing quite a lot in the nets, although I wouldn't expect anything else for a home team in their situation. South Africa are sure to come back strong, and we have to make sure we're ready.

"The toss is sure to be crucial," he added jokingly, "which rules me out of the equation!" Last week's successful call at the Wanderers was only Vaughan's seventh win in 23 attempts in Tests. That, however, has been Vaughan's lone blind spot since assuming the captaincy. The team has lost just four times in his time in charge, and two of those defeats came in the see-saw home series against South Africa in 2003. "We will carry on playing in a positive fashion," he concluded. "We have a great goal to aim for, and the chance to create our own kind of history."

South Africa (probable) 1 Graeme Smith (capt), 2 Herschelle Gibbs, 3 Jacques Rudolph, 4 Jacques Kallis, 5 AB de Villiers, 6 Mark Boucher (wk), 7 Andrew Hall, 8 Nicky Boje, 9 Shaun Pollock, 10 Makhaya Ntini, 11 Andre Nel.

England (probable) 1 Marcus Trescothick, 2 Andrew Strauss, 3 Robert Key, 4 Michael Vaughan (capt), 5 Graham Thorpe, 6 Andrew Flintoff, 7 Geraint Jones (wk), 8 Ashley Giles, 9 Simon Jones, 10 Matthew Hoggard, 11 Steve Harmison.