PAUL Collingwood believes newly-qualified Craig Kieswetter has the ability to become the latest in a distinguished roll call of South Africa-born England greats.

The issue of Proteas prospects switching their allegiance is a hot one at the moment, with South Africa skipper Graeme Smith speaking out about the haemorrhage of talent from his country and England selector Geoff Miller admitting a need to "be careful" about the subject.

It is a debate that is unlikely to die down any time soon, after Somerset wicketkeeper Kieswetter and his fellow Johannesburg native Michael Lumb produced the standout performances as England were downed by their Lions understudies in Abu Dhabi.

Lumb, who had earlier been bloodied by a Stuart Broad bouncer, closed out the match expertly with an aggressive 58 not out, but the day belonged to Kieswetter's muscular 81. That innings, on his first full day of eligibility for the national side, was enough to have Collingwood invoking some of Kieswetter's most celebrated predecessors.

"I've never seen him play at all, never met him or anything so it was the first time I've come across him. Obviously I was very impressed with how hard he hit the ball," said England's Twenty20 captain. "I wouldn't say he took us by surprise because we've heard a lot about him but he's certainly a guy who's very confident.

"In the last couple of decades the South Africa-born players have tended to come through the system hitting the ball hard. You only have to look at Allan Lamb and Robin Smith in the early days, and now Kevin Pietersen's coming into games hitting the ball really hard. He's no different to them. It's not just half-volleys he's hitting, it's good length balls and he's got a good temperament too. At the moment he hasn't got the chance to do that at international level but in the future maybe he will. He's certainly got a lot of talent."

Despite Miller's recent musings, Collingwood advocates an open-door policy for qualified players.

"A lot of South African-born players have made their decision about what is going on there and about where the best opportunity of going ahead is. A lot of them have come to England and a lot of them are very, very good players. As long as they are qualified and go down the right channels we've got no problem with that."