It will be the 10th time that South Africa will play in a Test at the ground, but they have one only once.

The Proteas take a lot of confidence from their comprehensive win at Lord’s, but they do expect England to come back at them hard.

The Proteas captain, Dean Elgar, is happy with the mental space that his side is in, but he conceded that the middle is under pressure to play their part, especially Aiden Markram and Rassie van der Dussen.

“As long as we are still getting the results on our side, backing is extremely important for those guys. “We have given them a decent run of late and I am sure they know they are under pressure to perform.

“They are proper batters. They are here for a reason.

“If they are firing in the middle order and we conduct ourselves like we have been doing of late, our Test side can only grow. But they are here, they are being backed. I don't see a change.

“Consistency is key to success, and even consistency in selection. It's a tough series playing against England away from home. You need to back your horses that you've been backing for a while now.”

Play in Manchester is scheduled to get underway at noon on Thursday.

Morgan Piek/OFM Sport