Kane Williamson remembers taking a painful blow to his groin the last time he played South Africa in a test but he also recalls facing the most fearsome attack he has come up against in his two-year international career.
It will provide little comfort for the New Zealand batsman that he will face a virtually identical South African bowling lineup in the upcoming two-test series and, just to make it even more difficult, will need to do it on their own conditions.
The Proteas medicos are optimistic fast bowler Vernon Philander and all-rounder Jacques Kallis will both be fit for the first test after making good progress from their respective hamstring strains.
Philander tormented the New Zealand batsmen last summer, taking 21 wickets, and the Black Caps found little relief at the other end as Morkel and Dale Steyn steamed in. All three are in line to play the first test starting in Cape Town on January 2, along with Kallis who needs another 20 runs to become just the fourth player in test history to score 13,000 runs.
Williamson will shoulder a considerable burden in the series, just as he did last summer. The 22-year-old scored a match-saving 102 not out in the third test in Wellington, shaking off the painful blow to his groin and cementing his reputation as one of the most promising batsmen to emerge in this country for some time.
