Miller has faith in England

Peter Moores and Geoff Miller have been keeping an eye on Andrew Flintoff's comeback © Getty Images

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National selector Geoff Miller insists England have the talent and character to match South Africa when the npower Test series starts at Lord's next Thursday.

But Miller, who named an unchanged squad for the first Test from the one which defeated New Zealand earlier in the summer, knows the hosts must improve their performances if they want to emerge victorious.

"It will be a tough series and a test for our players," he told ecb.co.uk.

"They are a good side - all international sides are. South Africa have proved themselves, they have a lot of stability now and the side is constant.

"They know each other and how they are going to play. They have performed well in the last year or so. It will be hard but we will match them."

After a rain-affected draw with New Zealand at Lord's, a Monty Panesar-inspired England won a thrilling Test at Old Trafford by six wickets in a game they looked destined to lose after conceding a first-innings deficit of 179.

A ton from Kevin Pietersen and sensational bowling performances from James Anderson and Ryan Sidebottom at Nottingham then completed a 2-0 series win.

"Our performances were mostly good," Miller said. "But there were some bad, some average times where we had to get ourselves out of a mess, but generally the strong characters and strong performances came at the right time. I'd rather we were controlling games than playing catch-up."

Miller resisted the temptation to tinker with the squad ahead of the meeting at the home of cricket, opting to retain a consistent approach to team selection.

Michael Vaughan sat out Yorkshire's last session as a precaution against his knee

Should the same XI that triumphed by an innings and nine runs over New Zealand at Trent Bridge last month start the Test at Lord's next week then it will be the sixth time the same side has taken the field - a new record.

"There was no necessity to change," he said. "They have just won a series in New Zealand and won a series here, so with our preach of consistency we will continue with that.

"Nobody has got injured, they have performed well and won games. Why would you leave someone out when your side is on a roll?

"If it's blatantly obvious there is a necessity to change then we will be strong enough to do that, but at the moment we are happy with how they are going.

"We have one or two players knocking on the door quite hard, some new players and some ex-players. We will monitor how our team does in this Test match and go from there."

One player knocking on the door is Andrew Flintoff, who churned his way through 34 overs in Lancashire's LV County Championship win against Sussex Hove before hammering an entertaining unbeaten half-century to see his side home.

"People saw it on the television and anyone who was at Sussex, it looked as though he was getting there," added Miller. "He needs a few miles on the legs and few more runs with the bat, although that was a nice start getting 60-odd. We are watching him."

The only injury scare is Michael Vaughan, who sat out the final session of Yorkshire's recent defeat to Durham with a sore knee. However, Miller fully expects Vaughan to be tossing up with his opposite number Graeme Smith next Thursday.

"It's fine, no problem," was Miller's verdict on Vaughan's injury. "It's an ongoing thing with Michael. He had the operation and we monitor that continually. Sometimes he gets nicks and niggles that we have to manage - this is just another one."