Hundreds of drivers have showcased their talents in NASCAR’s premier series since the gates of Daytona Int’l Speedway opened in February 1959. Though many went winless for decades, some logged a lone Daytona 500 victory that made their careers complete.

Ironically, the inaugural Daytona 500 provided one of the track’s greatest storylines with it taking nearly a week to decide the winner.

In a photo-finish after 200 laps of the 2.5-mile oval, reigning champion Lee Petty and fellow driver Johnny Beauchamp crossed under the checkered flag side by side along with the lapped car driven by Joe Weatherly. Beauchamp enjoyed victory lane ceremonies, but Petty still believed he’d won the race.

NASCAR founder Bill France worked to defuse the situation, promising the correct outcome would be found. With help from rushed black-and-white photographs and newsreel footage, NASCAR eventually had the answer and Petty was declared the winner.

Many descriptions of the race followed, but Weatherly had the best view of the finish and the photos supported his narrative.

“As they hit the finish line, I was about a hood length ahead of Petty and Petty was about the same distance ahead of Beau­champ,” Weatherly said. “If Petty didn’t win this race, he never won a race.”

In February 1961, Glenn “Fireball” Roberts, wheeling Smokey Yunick’s powerful, factory-backed Pontiac, was the favorite to win the 500. His teammate, Marvin Panch, was running third when Banjo Matthews and Roberts blew engines with less than 20 laps remaining.

Three years later, Dewayne “Tiny” Lund arrived at Daytona in hopes of landing a Daytona 500 ride. The 6-foot-5, 270-pounder had run only 131 premier series races with modest results. He hadn’t had a single top-five finish in 1960, ’61 or ’62, so it wasn’t surprising that he didn’t have a ride when he arrived in Florida with 17 cents in his pocket.

As fate would have it, Lund was instrumental in helping Panch escape a near-fatal crash days before the 500. Panch was practicing a Maserati for the three-hour Continental sports car race when his car flipped and Panch became trapped under the burning race car.

Lund, fellow drivers Bill Wimble and Ernie Gahan, Firestone tire executive Steve Patasek and mechanic Jerry Rabon reached Panch before safety teams arrived. Lund superhumanly lifted the car high enough so the others could rescue Panch.

Panch was badly burned and was hospitalized for weeks after the crash. Extremely grateful to his rescuers, he asked his team owner, Glen Wood, to put Lund in the Wood Brothers Racing Ford as a replacement driver.

Wood agreed and had the crew adjust the seat to Lund’s huge frame. They also had a sign painter letter Lund’s name on duct tape strips and placed them on the Ford Galaxy’s doors over Panch’s name.

“Tiny and Johnny Allen were the only good drivers available,” Wood said. “We wanted Tiny because of what he’d done for Marvin. And then Leonard (Wood) asked, ‘Who would I least like to have chasing me late in a race, Tiny or Johnny?’ When I said, ‘Tiny,’ he said, ‘There you go. Let’s take him.’”

Lund started 12th, but the Wood Brothers knew they didn’t have the fastest car in the field. Their strategy was to not change tires during the 200-lap event and win the race of pit lane.

Leonard Wood, the team’s chief mechanic and brother of Glen Wood, built front spindles for the car that helped keep tire wear to a bare minimum, giving Lund an advantage to cover what was missing in aerodynamics and horsepower.

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DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. – If Denny Hamlin hopes to defend his Daytona 500 victory from a year ago, he’ll have to come all the way through the 40-car field in order to do so.

Hamlin will start at the rear of the field for the 62nd annual Daytona 500 after his No. 11 FedEx Express Toyota Camry failed pre-race technical inspection twice. He was originally scheduled to start 21st.

FOX Sports’ Bob Pockrass reported the issue in question on Hamlin’s car was with rear toe.

The Chesterfield, Va., native is a two-time champion of the Daytona 500, having won the event in 2016 and again last year, in the first race following the passing of Joe Gibbs Racing president J.D. Gibbs.

In addition to losing his original starting spot, Hamlin’s car chief – Eric Phillips – was ejected for the event and the No. 11 team will also lose 15 minutes of practice next week at Las Vegas Motor Speedway.

Brennan Poole’s No. 15 Premium Motorsports Chevrolet also failed inspection two times, though Poole was also dropping to the rear of the Daytona 500 field due to an engine change. However, the inspection failures tacked on a 15-minute practice hold and the loss of car chief Mark Fordham.

The No. 12 Team Penske Ford of Ryan Blaney (back-up car), the No. 13 Germain Racing Chevrolet of Ty Dillon (gear change), the No. 32 Go Fas Racing Ford of Corey LaJoie (back-up car) and the No. 52 Rick Ware Racing Ford of BJ McLeod (transmission change) will also all drop to the rear on the pace laps.

However, those four entries passed inspection on the first or second try Sunday morning, meaning they will keep their respective starting spots for the Daytona 500.

Dillon starts 24th, Blaney rolls off 27th, LaJoie grids up 36th and McLeod begins Sunday from 38th.

The 62nd annual Daytona 500 broadcast begins at 2:30 p.m. ET, live on FOX, the Motor Racing Network and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio, channel 90.

TUCSON, Ariz. – Last month was the fourth year that the Wild West Shootout for super late models, USRA modifieds and USRA X mods took place at FK Rod Ends Arizona Speedway.

Located at the southeast edge of the Phoenix metropolitan area, the three-eighths-mile track is promoted by Jonah Trussel, but it is Chris Kearns who promotes the event.

“It is a tremendous undertaking and having it at someone else’s facility makes it extremely difficult,” Kearns said. “If it was our facility we’d already have our signage up, out staff in place, and little things you just don’t think of. We have to bring in everything it takes to run our business.”

Getting involved in racing was going from fan to pit crew member to driver to promoter.  He has done every part of racing one could imagine. His first time racing was in an enduro at Santa Maria Speedway in 1991. There were 143 cars and his recollection is that, “I don’t think I did very well.”

His parents were into racing, particularly drag racing and motorcycles, and as a little kid he went to races everywhere each weekend. Before age 10 he was a regular at Santa Maria Speedway. His father sponsored some speedway motorcycle racers, but never raced or promoted.

Following the enduro event he raced hobby stocks for a few years, moved to Florida and did not race for a period of time, then when returning to California raced open comp street stock events.

This era was successful for Kearns and he won the very last stock car race at San Jose Speedway. The late George Steitz was promoting during this time and Kearns learned from him.

“I learned a lot from George, he was a great promoter. He was a great guy, so good with people and so good to the racers,” Kearns said. “I didn’t know him at the time, but I ran a black 69 because Brent Kaeding was my favorite driver and I would buy his used front tires so I won at San Jose in a black 69 with Brent Kaeding’s old take off sprint car tires.”

He was approached about racing a late model and Kearns answered he would do that if it was a Rayburn chassis. It was Mike Redstone who showed up at Kearns front door with a truck and piles of cash, so it was off to Indiana to bring back a Rayburn.

He wasn’t very good in a late model and the money pile wasn’t as deep as needed. There was a $10,000 race at Bakersfield Speedway and, since Kearns knew he couldn’t win the race, he suggested they put somebody in the car that could.

They brought Don O’Neal out to run the car, bought new tires since O’Neal wanted them, and thankfully won the race to cover the tire cost. In 2006 Kearns made an appearance at Santa Maria, his first outing of the year, set a track record in qualifying, won his heat, but blew the engine in the dash and that became his last time driving a race car.

His first job on the other side of the fence was being race director of a late model series, the Western All Stars, for a couple years. Next in 2009 he leased Santa Maria Speedway and started his own late model series as the All Stars folded.

Called the West Coast Late Model Shootout, the late model series was followed by Kearns starting the West Coast sprint car series because he needed his own series. After the initial 2009 season, the sprint car series became sanctioned by USAC.

After promoting four years at Santa Maria, Kearns became involved with USAC on a full-time basis, running all the west coast series. His first involvement with the Wild West Shootout was in Tucson when he was hired to be the race director. That was for three years, and then Kearns was not really involved with the January series for a while.

In 2015 Kearns partnered with USAC for a lease on the Tucson track. Kevin Montgomery owned the series, so they formed a partnership since one had a track and the other needed a place to run the series. After two years in Tucson, the series moved to its current home at Arizona Speedway.

Michael Rigsby, Montgomery and Kearns met and discussed options, had a meeting with Jonah Trussel, and the deal was made to move the Wild West Shootout to Arizona Speedway in 2017.

To promote the Wild West Shootout is a huge undertaking, and Kearns started working on the 2021 event a day after the 2020 was completed.

“In March we start making promotional plans, we work on budgets for the following year, and because we bring in so much staff we start working on that at the same time, booking hotels and flights,” Kearns said.

“You’ve got to start working on ticket orders and pit passes, I start on the trophies during the summer, I need to start looking for building and equipment rentals, it’s pretty much nonstop. We work on sponsorship all year long.

“The advertising starts very early, and when you work on advertising you have to work on artwork. We’ll do color fliers during the summer which are distributed across the country.  By August we do a mailer to competitors and press releases start.

“The extra-curricular stuff is booked months in advance. People don’t know that one of our most difficult things is, when you race that many days in a row, is having enough people to keep the facility clean. If you do it right, it’s a lot of work.”

Kearns sums up the effort by noting, “I believe there is not one day that goes by during the year that I am not doing something for the Wild West Shootout.”

With Montgomery making a job related move to the eastern United States, Kearns, Rigsby, and Matt Curl, owner of the Fairbury, Ill., track are partners while Ben Shelton, while not a partner, plays a major role in the event.

Kearns credited Shelton because, “He keeps things organized leading up to the event.  Having Matt Curl on hand this year was a huge asset to me because he’s better at the job than I am and what better person to have helping you than someone who is better than you.  He is very knowledgeable.”

What has become one of the biggest events in the country is obviously in very good hands and has found an excellent home at Arizona Speedway.

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. – German motorcycle racing team Team Penz13 has announced plans to compete in the Daytona 200 with rider Sheridan Morais.

Morias is scheduled to compete in the event, scheduled for March 12-14 at Daytona Int’l Speedway, aboard Yamaha R6. The South African has been racing for Penz13 in the FIM Endurance World Championship the last two years.

Morias was able to test at Daytona Int’l Speedway last year, but the 79th edition of the Daytona 200 will be the first time he’ll get the chance to race at the historic venue.

”I already had a chance to test in Daytona last year but couldn’t race due to other commitments,” Morias said. “Therefore I am even more eager to finally race there and with my trusted partner, the Penz13 team, the combination is just perfect. They have all the experience you need to race endurance. We are expecting two to three pit stops over there and they have converted a Supersport Yamaha into a World Endurance model. So the excitement is all there to go into the Daytona bends.

“Of course, my aim is to win, like everyone else. The competition is much tougher now than a couple of years ago, probably based on the decent price money they are offering. I am in pretty good shape and will get another couple of laps under my belt down here in Kyalami before we are heading over to the U.S.”

The team will continue to have sponsorship from Puraglobe Syntainics during the Daytona 200, with the team’s official name slated to be Puraglobe Syntainics powered by Penz13.

”There were always two more races I wanted to enter as a team, Pikes Peak and the Daytona 200,” said team owner Rico Penzkofer. “I am very happy that Puraglobe Syntainics continues to support us and fulfilling this dream. Being a kind of home race for them gives us additional motivation. I have raced there by myself when it was still classified as Formula Extreme. Today the capacity of the bikes is limited to 600cc production bikes, but they are still very fast. We have the experience in pit stops and are be able to provide Sheridan with a very competitive bike. We are also pleased to have our regular sponsors on board as well as Prokasro’s Uwe Reinhardt that helps us tremendously with logistical support.”

Goals from Paulo Dybala and Juan Cuadrado sent Juventus back to the top of the Serie A table with a 2-0 win over 10-man Brescia on Sunday.

Brescia striker Florian Aye picked up two yellow cards in three minutes near the end of the first half and Juventus immediately capitalised as Dybala whipped in the opener from a free kick.

Cuadrado doubled their advantage with a neat finish after 75 minutes, and the home crowd were given more reason to cheer when captain Giorgio Chiellini came off the bench to make his first appearance since rupturing his cruciate ligament in August.

Maurizio Sarri rested forward Cristiano Ronaldo, who has scored in 10 consecutive Serie A matches, and his gamble paid off as Juve eased to a win that moved them up to 57 points.

However, Inter Milan will push Juve into second place on goal difference if they beat third-placed Lazio later on Sunday.

Arsenal had drawn their previous four Premier League games before facing Newcastle United. It looked as though that may be the case again here after an anticlimactic first half, but they came flying out of the blocks for the second and won 4-0.

Just nine minutes after the break, Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang headed in from Nicolas Pepe's lofted cross to open the scoring. Three minutes later and it was two for the Gunners, as Bukayo Saka embarrassed Valentino Lazaro, before squaring the ball to Pepe, who turned from provider to scorer.

The Gunners were given a slight scare when Allan Saint-Maximin hit the post, but they responded, as Mesut Ozil converted from Alexandre Lacazette's pass. Finally, Lacazette added a fourth, the Frenchman ending a nine-game barren run.

Having secured all three points, Arsenal now find themselves 10th in the table.

Positives

Arsenal were able to dominate the ball at times and it will be pleasing that after periods of intense pressure, they were able to get their foot back on it. In addition, while they looked stretched defensively at times, Arsenal were resolute enough to keep Steve Bruce's side out and maintain their clean sheet. The biggest positive will be the way that they came out and grabbed hold of the game after half-time, which saw them eventually win the game with relative comfort.

Negatives

There was pretty much no attacking flair from the Gunners in the first half, which made life easy for a well-organised Newcastle side. Mikel Arteta will have also been concerned by the sloppiness of Arsenal's passing in that stage of the game. There is little to fault from their second-half performance, but Arsenal can't afford to waste halves of football.

Manager rating out of 10

7 -- He needs to get his side starting quicker, but whatever Arteta said at half-time certainly worked, as they were 2-0 up within 12 minutes of the break. It will also be encouraging for him that this was the case without any changes in personnel being needed for the initial upturn.

Player ratings (1-10; 10 = best, players introduced after 70 minutes get no rating)

GK Bernd Leno, 7 -- Pulled off a good reaction save to prevent an unfortunate own goal for Dani Ceballos when the score was 0-0. Looked pretty comfortable throughout.

DF Hector Bellerin, 6 -- Had a few moments of sloppiness and really struggled to deal with Saint-Maximin, but did just enough to keep him out.

DF Shkodran Mustafi, 6 -- Almost put Arsenal ahead but slightly scuffed his volley. Wasn't precise enough with some of his passing, but got the job done defensively.

DF David Luiz, 6 -- Played some wayward passes, but worked fairly well in defence to stop Newcastle getting through. Made a very good intervention to deny Ciaran Clark.

DF Bukayo Saka, 7 -- He struggled defensively in the early stages, but was the Gunners' greatest attacking outlet at times. Made that pay dividends when he nutmegged Lazaro before clinically assisting Pepe.

MF Dani Ceballos, 8 -- Making his first start in any competition since November, but showed intent from the off. He lost his hold on the game and looked vulnerable when out of position during the first half, but dictated a lot of Arsenal's good play in the second. This transformation made him good value for the standing ovation he received when substituted off.

MF Granit Xhaka, 5 -- Picked up a stupid yellow card in the ninth minute for pulling on Lazaro's shirt, then looked on the edge of getting a second at times in the first half. Went on to have a steady second.

MF Nicolas Pepe, 9 -- He looked largely ineffective in the first half, but made a massive improvement in the second, creating a chance for Eddie Nketiah, before assisting Aubameyang. He then added to that with a goal of his own, providing a clinical first-time finish. To top it off, he set up Lacazette for Arsenal's fourth of the game.

MF Mesut Ozil, 7 -- Looked very ponderous on the ball at times, though there were flashes of the creative spark we all know he is capable of producing. Capped off his performance with his first goal in 10 months, when he finished through the clambering hands of Martin Dubravka.

MF Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, 7 -- Arsenal's captain looked as though he was on the game's periphery throughout the first half. However, it is he who opened the scoring for his team with a brilliantly executed header, which saw him come alive.

FW Eddie Nketiah, 4 -- Really felt for the Arsenal academy graduate in the first half, as he was desperate to get into the game but was often feeding off scraps. However, the chances did come in the second and he failed to take advantage of them, meaning he came off the pitch without a goal that really should have come. The main positive of his game was that he worked hard throughout.

Substitutes

MF Lucas Torreira, N/R -- Replaced Ceballos in the 82nd minute and looked very comfortable on the ball.

FW Alexandre Lacazette, N/R -- Replaced Nketiah in the 85th minute and provided some good pieces of linkup play, before assisting Ozil and he then went on to end his drought, which should give him a massive confidence boost.

MF Joe Willock, N/R -- Replaced Ozil in the 91st minute and almost got an assist, but his ball into the box was blocked.

Former USA batsman Srinivas Salver has replaced former national team-mate Usman Shuja as male player representative in the lone change in the USA Cricket board after results of the recent election were announced on Saturday night. Atlanta league administrator Venu Pisike won re-election in the other place up for grabs, securing a three-year term as an individual director on the board.

Shuja's loss is a stunning reversal from 2018 when he ran unopposed to win a unanimous vote for an initial one-year term. On this occasion, Salver, 35, won the vote by almost a 3 to 1 margin, claiming 34 votes from current or former players compared to Shuja's tally of 12. Nine players abstained from voting after having registered. Another 43 players who would have been eligible to vote in the election simply refused to renew their USA Cricket membership in order to be eligible to vote.

According to multiple sources, Salver was the preferred candidate among the majority of the current USA squad. Having last represented USA in 2018, Salver has built and maintained strong relationships with most of the current and recent players who have represented USA. Shuja, 41, played his last match for USA in 2014 and could not maintain enough support beyond the previous generation of players.

Shuja had been the head of the influential cricket committee when the USA Cricket board was formed in 2018. But in the middle of 2019, he was replaced in that role by Atul Rai. It was around this time that Pubudu Dassanayake resigned as USA head coach and was replaced initially by Kiran More, with strong backing from Rai, before More's assistant coach James Pamment took over from More in an interim capacity.

Pisike's re-election was expected thanks to a sizeable portion of the registered membership hailing from his Atlanta power-base. Of the 725 registered voters, 203 were tied to either the Atlanta Cricket League or the Atlanta Georgia Cricket Conference. That support went a long way to him claiming a total of 369 votes compared to just 31 votes to Texas candidate Ather Naqi. A total of 325 eligible voters abstained from voting.

The voting numbers are a drastic drop-off from the inaugural USA Cricket board elections in August 2018. Approximately 5500 members were eligible to vote for the previous election, but USA Cricket experienced an 87% drop in membership renewals ahead of this election. In 2018. USA Cricket had asked for a $35 annual membership fee before ultimately deciding to wave the fee ahead of the registration deadline to be able to vote in 2018.

USA Cricket then lowered the fee to $10 for renewal by July 31, 2019. After extending the renewal deadline until the end of August, the governing body still could not convince members to join or renew in the same numbers as 2018 and instead experienced an 87% drop in membership.

The USA board is expected to hold an annual general meeting in New York on February 21. There was no AGM held in 2019 after board elections were delayed six months, from August all the way until February 2020.

Eoin Morgan has insisted that he would have continued to view Jos Buttler as a top-order batsman in T20 cricket even if he had failed for a third time in the series in the final T20I at Durban, describing him as one of England's "greatest-ever white-ball cricketers" and comparing him to AB de Villiers.

Buttler's batting position has been a constant point for discussion throughout the series. Since Rajasthan Royals promoted him to the top of the order in May 2018, he has opened in 31 out of 32 T20 innings, including each of his last eight games for England.

While few doubt the fact he is a destructive player opening the batting - he has averaged 44.58 with a strike rate of 154.66 in the role since being moved up in the IPL - there is a school of thought that suggests England's wealth of top-order options but dearth of finishers means that he would be best used as a floating middle-order batsman.

ALSO READ: Buttler's opening gambit leaves England's T20 top order unclear

But Morgan has insisted throughout this series that Buttler is used best as a top-order player, saying that he did not view his 29-ball 57 at Durban as vindication. "If he'd failed today, he still would have been considered in the top three," he said.

"He's a very fine player. He's got unbelievable ability to take any bowling line-up apart, and to have somebody in your side like that is great. I don't think he played that well today, but he got a score on the board, and set a really good platform for us to try and chase a score down along with Jonny [Bairstow].

"[Jos is] one of our greatest-ever white-ball cricketers," Morgan told Sky Sports. "I realise why people talk about him so much, but not in a negative way. I think he has as much talent as someone like AB de Villiers.

"It took AB de Villiers a long time and a lot of games to actually get going in a South African shirt. We need to back guys that have that sort of talent, and Jos Buttler's been around a long time now, and we know when he delivers, we win games of cricket."

"At times you can be the victims of your own mentality, so we said we're not going to leave anything in the tank at the halfway stage, and we didn't" Eoin Morgan

Morgan admitted that the plan to use Buttler at the top of the order could change between now and the T20 World Cup, which starts in October, but maintained that the top three's ability to break the back of a run chase and to lay a platform on which the middle order can build was crucial.

"I think the priority at the moment is to get the top three [Buttler, Jason Roy and Bairstow] as many balls under their belt as they can," he said. "They're the most destructive players that we have. If that changes between now and the World Cup, and we feel the need to fill a gap somewhere, then we might change it, but for the moment it's an extremely destructive batting line-up to play against.

"The advantage that we have now is we have guys going away, playing Pakistan [Super] League, IPL, they'll come back and play in the Blast, then play in the Hundred. So there's a lot of T20 fixtures, [of a] high-quality standard, that we do look at - guys in pressure moments, how they deliver.

"We encourage our guys, particularly our senior guys, or guys who are trying to get into our squad or final XI, when they go to tournament like that - they need to go and try and be MVP, leading run-scorer, take the most wickets, stand out, be the man. So when they come into international cricket, it's not a surprise."

Morgan accepted that England had "not played our best cricket" throughout the series, and suggested that they were "rusty" in the first T20I at East London, but said that he was always confident that his side could chase down an imposing target of 223 in the final game.

"[It was] an absolutely belting wicket with really short boundaries - a real bowler's graveyard, so to speak," he said. "Our bowlers kept it within something chaseable, and at the halfway stage we talked about 2016, when we chased down 230 against South Africa in the second game of the World Cup. At times you can be the victims of your own mentality, so we said we're not going to leave anything in the tank at the halfway stage, and we didn't."

Despite a troublesome back leading to suggestions he might step down as England's white-ball captain after the 50-over World Cup win last summer, Morgan has been in imperious form since that triumph. In his last eight T20I innings, he has hit 328 runs off 179 balls, averaging 54.66 with a strike rate of 183.24, and matched his own record for the fastest half-century by an England batsman at Centurion with a 21-ball effort.

"Not bad," was Morgan's own assessment of his form. "I've not been working on a great deal of stuff," he said, "mainly just keeping my head clear, and being precise about what I'm trying to do, trying to work with the guy at the other end the whole time [and trying to] marshal the troops a little bit."

As a captain, Morgan has continued to work closely with England's white-ball analyst, Nathan Leamon - "trying to make little fine adjustments" - and explained that his regular use of Moeen Ali in the Powerplay was an attempt to target Quinton de Kock's relative weakness against offspin.

"There's a gambling element as well, a bit of risk/reward. We've seen that throughout the series, trying to get Quinton and Temba [Bavuma] out. It's not easy at all, but continuing to bowl Moeen while Temba's taking it easy at one end and Quinny's taking him on, the odds are in our favour whether he gets hit or not. My gambling does come into it a little bit."

The one person South African coach Mark Boucher is sure of ahead of this year's T20 World Cup did not even play in the series against England, which ended on Sunday. South Africa lost 1-2 and head straight into another rubber against Australia on Friday, where they could sport a very different squad that could even include AB de Villiers, who Boucher indicated is a shoe-in for the tournament later this year.

"He's a discussion in the media and in the public but he is no discussion for me. I have had chats with him and we will probably know pretty soon what's going to happen with him," Boucher said. "Like I said from day one when I took over, if we are going to a World Cup, I would like to have our best players there.

"If AB is in good form and he is raring to go and he makes himself available for the time we have asked him to be available; if he is the best man for the job, then he must go. It's not about egos or anything like that, it's about sending your best team to the World Cup to try and win that competition."

ALSO READ: Ice-cool Morgan hands England 2-1 series win

De Villiers retired from all international cricket in May 2018 but attempted to make a comeback for the 2019 50-over World Cup, which was blocked by national selectors. At the time, it was explained that the refusal to let de Villiers back was because he had snubbed a request to play in two ODIs leading up to the tournament. This time, de Villiers will be part of South Africa's build-up, although it is not clear how many matches he will be required to play.

South Africa have a two-month break after the Australia series, which includes three T20Is and three ODIs and will be followed by a white-ball tour of Sri Lanka and a visit to West Indies that includes five T20s. Early indications were that de Villiers would return to the national side after the IPL but with Australia bringing a full-strength squad, de Villiers may be convinced to come back earlier so South Africa can settle on combinations.

South Africa are expected to announce their squad on Tuesday, with Faf du Plessis and Kagiso Rabada, who were rested for the England series, likely to be back.

That will give South Africa further options to consider as they look to refine their playing group for the T20 World Cup, after Boucher conceded that he still has vacant spots in this team. "A couple of questions have been answered - maybe in a positive way, maybe one or two in a negative way but least the questions have been answered and we are getting an idea of which positions are filled," he said.

Although Boucher did not reveal exactly which places had been claimed, a quick glance at the series suggests the openers have sealed their spots. Quinton de Kock and Temba Bavuma, who has just five T20 caps to his name, got South Africa off to three strong starts with stands of 92, 48 and 84 and finished as the first and second top-scorers for their team.

Though South Africa had some middle-order challenges, Boucher was "very happy with the batting," as a whole. That suggests Rassie van der Dussen, Jon-Jon Smuts, David Miller and Heinrich Klaasen, who only played the final match, have all done enough to remain in contention for the T20 World Cup.

The performance of the attack was less satisfying for Boucher, with South Africa failing to defend 222 at SuperSport Park. "The bowling has, at times, been very good. We've got wicket-taking ability but as a unit we are not hitting our straps enough and there are a couple too many soft options. If we can clean that act up then I think we are going in the right direction," Boucher said.

In particular, he wants to work on bowlers' skills, especially the yorker but stressed that it is difficult to focus on that in between matches because of the tight travel schedule. "We did speak about trying to nail more yorkers but it's difficult to train those sort of things because we play, we travel, we play, we travel," he said. "I don't think the skill is where it should be and that's something we need to work on. We are looking at a camp that we can put together so that we can work on particular things with our bowlers and our batters."

While Lungi Ngidi, who defended seven runs off the last over in East London, is unlikely to have been the focus of Boucher's comments, Andile Phehlukwayo, Dwaine Pretorius, Beuran Hendricks and even Dale Steyn will want to take notes so they know what's expected of them as South Africa head into their next assignment. Rabada and Sisanda Magala, who has spent the series working on his fitness, are the other options South Africa will consider.

Overall, Boucher has assessed his first full series as national head coach as "tough," but no different to what he thought it would be when he took the job in mid-December.

"I knew it was going to be tough," Boucher said. "I don't want to get emotional about the whole thing. You've got to try and be practical and look at where we are as a team and understand that there is a lot of hard work to do.

"With regards to our Test cricket, we are a long way off the mark so we need to work nice and hard there, especially on our batting. In one-day cricket, we are a very young side and I was pretty happy with the way that went. We are in a stage now, I don't like to call it rebuilding, but we are looking at opportunities for guys to stand up and take responsibility for a position that they could own for a long period of time. If there is a chance to give guys opportunity, then I think we must."

Despite a number of debuts - South Africa handed out five in the Tests and three in ODIs - the team has not won a series since March last year, which speaks to the dire straits they find themselves in. But for Boucher, this time seems to present possibilities for new heroes, and maybe for a veteran like de Villiers, to come back.