England tour South Africa in 1983/4 for 2 Tests, and ODI and T20 series versus the carded South African players I have who were playing in 1983/4.
The South Africans are missing a number of stars from the Rebel tours of South Africa in the 1980's, but can still put together a fairly competitive XI of carded players from 1969/70 or 1991/2 who were active in 83/4.
England meanwhile struggled on tour in New Zealand and Pakistan in this season in real life, but had some decent players in their lineup, and it should be interesting to see who comes out on top.
I could only find 11 available players in 1983/4 for South Africa, so I will keep the series short to prevent staleness settling in.
The squads are as follows:
South Africa 1983/4 available players:
S.J.Cook
M.W.Rushmere
P.N.Kirsten
R.G.Pollock
D.J.Cullinan
A.P.Kuiper
M.J.Proctor (c)
D.J.Richardson (wk)
P.L.Symcox
O.Henry
M.W.Pringle
England 1983/4 touring squad
C.J.Tavare
C.L.Smith
D.I.Gower (c)
M.W.Gatting
A.J.Lamb
D.W.Randall
I.T.Botham
R.W.Taylor (wk)
N.A.Foster
N.G.B.Cook
R.G.D.Willis
G.Fowler
V.J.Marks
G.R.Dilley
N.G.Cowans
England look solid in batting and seam bowling, and should be competitive during the series.
In Botham the visitors possess one of greatest allrounders to play the game, and it should be interesting to see his influence on the series.
South Africa on the other hand have some class batsmen, and as usual, a number of allrounders.
Experienced allrounder Mike Proctor leads them, in the twilight of his First Class career, while ageing great Graeme Pollock slots in to the top order.
South Africa lack depth in seam bowling at this stage, while their batting remains an unknown quantity, but with a pair of spinners at their disposal, could be a challenge on turning pitches.
Overall it's a hard series to pick, which gives me even more reason to replay it.
I will start with a Test match, because after 7 T20's in a row, I feel like a change of pace.
Mike Proctor leads South Africa in 1983/4 in the first of 2 Tests v England
