The highly-rated Hughes was dismissed twice by short balls from Steve Harmison in the tourists' final warm-up ahead of Wednesday's opening Test in Cardiff.

But Harmison won't be in the England team when combat begins at Sophia Gardens, and Langer has no long-term fears about the man who replaced him at the top of the Australian batting order.

He told the Sydney Morning Herald: "It's just something you've got to get used to, and it's not easy as a short left-hand batter like 'Hughesy'. You've got to get used to that bounce and work out a method to combat that, then you can find a rhythm against them.

"I knew this would happen, that if he missed out a couple of times people would be picking on his technique, saying there is a weakness here or there, but the great thing about Phillip Hughes is that he's always made runs under pressure and he's always worked it out ... His great strength is that he does know his game and he has the ability to make runs under pressure. He's shown that at a young age."

Lance's Cape Odyssey Lance Armstrong has already made a positive impact since arriving in Cape Town, writes Dan Nicholl.

SA must improve or else Bafana Bafana need to improve - or they will be in line for an early 2010 World Cup exit.

Try, try, try again We take a closer look at some of the contentious refereeing decisions of the Super 14...