Enlarge imageBLOEMFONTEIN, South Africa (Reuters) - England must improve on their performances in the recent Ashes victory over Australia in order to repeat that success in South Africa, captain Andrew Strauss said on Monday.
"In some ways we will have to play better than we have played, certainly in my time as an England player," Strauss told a news conference.
"That's a bit of a step up for us. We are all aware at this stage of our development we are not the finished product by any means."
England recorded a 2-1 home win over Australia in August and it is South Africa who now occupy top spot in the test rankings.
"As a group we understand the extent of the challenge that this tour sets us," said Strauss.
"This is an opportunity for us to see where we are as a side and also to make some steps forward in terms of becoming more consistent."
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The last time England toured South Africa in 2004-05, Michael Vaughan's team beat the hosts 2-1.
"(Beating) the number one side at home is as hard as it can get," added Strauss. "There's a lot of hard work to be done if we want to get there and achieve that goal."
England's first tour game is a one-day match against the Eagles, a local franchise side, in Bloemfontein on November 6.
The first international is a Twenty20 against South Africa in Johannesburg on November 13. The opening one-dayer is on November 20 and the test series starts on December 16 in Centurion.
(Writing by Jason Humphries in Durban, editing by Tony Jimenez)
