England stand 'on the brink of history' as whitewash beckons

When England and 5-0 whitewashes are mentioned in the same sentence it is memories of Test series against Australia in 2006-07 and the West Indies in the mid-Eighties that tend to come to mind. But this afternoon in Cardiff it is England, under the decisive and vibrant captaincy of Kevin Pietersen, who are hoping to inflict such ignominy on an opponent.

England's form since Pietersen took charge has been nothing short of astonishing. A Test and four one-dayers against South Africa have been won comprehensively, leaving England on the verge of only the third 5-0 series whitewash in their history. England's two previous emphatic triumphs were in 1959, when they walloped India 5-0 in a Test series, and in October 2001 when Nasser Hussain's one-day outfit defeated the might of Zimbabwe.

England also face the tantalising prospect of moving into second place in the one-day rankings if they beat a dispirited South Africa. It would be an all-time high for England, who have spent much of the 16 years since they reached the 1992 World Cup final wallowing in mid-table mediocrity.

"We are definitely on the brink of history," said Ian Bell at a wet and windy Swalec Stadium yesterday. "One thing I always remember Vaughany [Michael Vaughan] and Duncan Fletcher talking about was there being nothing better than making history as an England team; it is what you get remembered for. It is something we're all aware of and the fact we can also go to No 2 in the world makes it a great effort. History is something you want to be part of.

"When we play well we are one of the better teams in international cricket, but what is different this time is that we are backing it up game after game. We've done it four games on the bounce and this is bringing extra responsibility, but we're dealing with it and if we do so again then we'll be showing that we deserve to be in the top two in the rankings."

The performances of Pietersen, Andrew Flintoff, Stuart Broad and Samit Patel have dominated the series, overshadowing the excellent batting of Bell, which has slipped under the radar. Bell enters today's match behind Flintoff as England's second-highest run scorer of the series, with 149 at an average of 49.66. Not bad for a man who believes he is batting out of position. "Opening is not really my favourite batting position," Bell admitted. "Three would be my favourite spot but if I am asked to open then I will open. In one-day cricket nowadays there is not much difference between opening and going in at three, you could be going in after a couple of balls, but opening still feels a little strange to me because I don't see myself as an opener.

"I am happy opening but I see myself as a No 3 or 4. I am sure if I keep doing it, it will become easier."

An opener faces many challenges at the start of an innings and the most important in one-day cricket are correctly judging what a good score is on the pitch the game is being played on, and working out the best way of getting there.

In the two games in the one-day series when England have batted first Bell and Matthew Prior have managed these situations extremely well. "I am getting a good understanding with Matthew," said Bell. "The one thing we have done pretty well together in the series is sussing out the pitch. At Headingley it was a sticky pitch and we felt that having wickets in hand would be the best way of getting a score. At The Oval we worked out pretty quickly that it was a good pitch so we had to be a bit more adventurous and aggressive at the top. If we can continue doing this as we are, setting a platform for those down the order, then it is a good thing."

England are expected to name an unchanged side for a fourth consecutive match, while South Africa will attempt to come up with a combination that prevents them becoming an unwelcome part of England's one-day history.

England (probable) K P Pietersen (capt), I R Bell, M J Prior (wkt), O A Shah, A Flintoff, P D Collingwood, S R Patel, L J Wright, S C J Broad, S J Harmison, J M Anderson.

South Africa J H Kallis (capt), H H Gibbs, H M Amla, A B De Villiers, J-P Duminy, M V Boucher (wkt), V D Philander, J Botha, A Nel, M Morkel, D W Steyn.