England pace bowler Steve Harmison will be hoping to see as little as possible of Graeme Smith over the coming month.

How long they spend face to face, indeed, is likely to have a profound effect on the outcome of England's five-match Test series against South Africa which starts in Port Elizabeth on Friday.

The South African captain had it all his own way last year when he showed a healthy appetite for English bowling.

It took England nine hours and 277 runs, still the highest Test score by a South African, to dismiss him when they first crossed swords at Edgbaston in July 2003. Harmison managed one wicket for 104.

The Durham bowler fared even worse in the second innings, when Smith cracked 85 off 70 balls and things did not improve in the second Test, Smith making 259 in his side's innings victory while Harmison took one for 103 in 22 laboured overs.

Smith was less prolific in the rest of the series but, while Harmison improved, he failed to dismiss the left-handed opener.

Much, however, has happened in the intervening 15 months.

Smith, while still averaging more than 55 in Tests, has found life progressively harder at the head of a team struggling to live up to the glories of the past.

Harmison, meanwhile, his technique and fitness improving by the delivery, has matured from young tearaway to a place at the top of the world bowling rankings.

His emergence has been the key factor in England rising to second in the International Cricket Council's Test championship table. South Africa, second in the table when the teams last met, have gone in the opposite direction and are now sixth.

The 26-year-old Harmison's most celebrated exploit in his young career was an extraordinary return of seven for 12 against West Indies at Sabina Park in March.

He, however, maintains the fifth Test against South Africa in 2003 was the turning point in his career.

Before that, he has taken 28 wickets in 10 matches, each costing 36.78. In the next 13 Tests, he took 74 wickets at an average of 20.17.

If he can extend that form in the five-Test series, Smith and his South Africans will struggle to compete.