Jacques Kallis has put beating England this summer at the top of his wish list after being thwarted twice before. The all-rounder was part of the South Africa side that lost 2-1 in England in 1998 after taking an early lead and a key member of their team five years later when the series ended 2-2 despite the visitors going to the last match at The Oval with their noses in front.

"There are three things I want to achieve," said the 32-year-old ahead of Thursday's First Test at Lord's. "Beating England in England, beating Australia and winning the World Cup.

"Winning this series is right up there with the other two. We've come close in the past and made some silly mistakes so, hopefully, we can learn from that this time."

With the 1994 series also being shared, South Africa are still waiting for their first triumph in England since they were readmitted to world cricket nearly 17 years ago. And this is clearly a driving force for their most dependable batsman.

South Africa looked to have the 2003 series in the bag when they totalled 484 in the deciding match. But Michael Vaughan's team ended up claiming a remarkable nine-wicket victory with Marcus Trescothick scoring a double hundred along the way.

Kallis, captain Graeme Smith, Neil McKenzie, keeper Mark Boucher and senior fast bowler Makhaya Ntini are back for another go and Kallis said: "I think we are probably just favourites," said Kallis. "England's side is probably not as experienced as when they came to South Africa in 2004 [and won 2-1]. They are probably where we were then in terms of rebuilding while we have an established side.

"But we have to make sure we don't take them lightly."

Much of the pre-series hype has centred on South Africa's fast bowling unit. And there is a feeling that while England's batsmen will need to be in top form to counter Ntini, Dale Steyn and Morne Morkel, spinner Monty Panesar could pose big problems for the visitors.

But Kallis said: "We have spent a lot of time in the sub-continent over the last few months and we played well against spin. So we are pretty well prepared.

"It's good if people carry on writing us off as players of spin. Words have never got a wicket - it's all down to a guy's ability and what you do out in the middle."