South Africa's schedule of two-Test series throughout the World Test Championship has an unintended benefit in preparing them for getting off the starting blocks quickly, which could come in handy in a one-off final . Or at least, that's the line Aiden Markram came up with, and is sticking to, three days out from the biggest Tests of his and his team-mate's careers.

"A lot of our series have been two-game series, so in order to win, you can't start slow. That's helped us along the way," Markram said after South Africa's first training session at Lord's. "We know the importance of starting well, trying to get ahead of the game early and how important each session is going to be. There's no second dip at it. We have to make sure we hit the ground running and are nice and sharp come da

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