Seam is the way forward: Chris Silverwood ahead of South Africa Test series

Ahead of the first Test against South Africa, England coach Chris Silverwood said 'seam is the way forward'.

"Obviously in Hamilton, we looked at all the stats of who took wickets at the ground, and it showed that spin didn't really play much part in the games, or certainly have much effect on the games," ICC quoted Silverwood as saying.

"We look at the stats for this ground, it's the same thing, you're looking at wickets taken by seam, wickets taken by spin and the averages that go along with them, it suggests that seam is the way forward, and the thing that has most effect on the game here, so we're certainly looking at that," he added.

England had gone with a similar strategy in the Hamilton Test against New Zealand last month as they played Chris Woakes in place of Jack Leach. England lost the two-match series by 1-0 to New Zealand.

However, Silverwood did not confirm that England will deploy an all-seam attack in the match against South Africa saying that they will discuss it in the coming days.

"We've got some good resources in the spin department. Leachy is coming back to fitness now, we've got Dominic Bess here as well, Parky who bowled nicely in Benoni [in the practice game]," he said.

"So we've got the resources but we're looking at it for what it is, what has most effect in this game. We're not definitely going down the road of all seam, but it's something we've got to discuss over the next few days," Silverwood added.

The first Test between England and South Africa will begin on December 26.