South Africa paceman Dale Steyn believes the Proteas are now strong enough for players not to wish to further their careers elsewhere.

The country have suffered a drain on talent in recent years with a number of players either switching their allegiance to England or taking advantage of the Kolpak ruling to secure more rewarding county deals.

England batsman Kevin Pietersen is the most notable to defect while other recent Test players such as Jacques Rudolph and Charles Langeveldt are no longer available to them.

But, spearheaded by pace trio Steyn, Morne Morkel and Makhaya Ntini and with a strong top six, the South Africans still face England at Lord's this week with a highly-rated side.

Steyn told the Wisden Cricketer: "We've had six series wins out of seven and one draw.

"We feel our cricket is going somewhere and we want to get the message across that people don't have to leave now. We don't want them running to England.

"We want to keep them and we want them to play for us and to fight for the country of their birth. That's the way it should be in international sport."

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