Mickey Arthur has upped the ante ahead of the first one-dayer against England by claiming his players are "too friendly" with the opposition during the two Twenty20 games.

The South African coach has already ruffled a few feathers by claiming England were "predictable" during the second T20, and he has now taken the mind games a step further by warning his players not to be chummy with the tourists.

"I thought during the Twenty20 we were a little too friendly," Arthur is quoted in The Times. "There was 'Hello [Jonathan] Trotty' and 'How are you, Trotty?'. I saw one of our quick bowlers having lunch with him a couple of days before a game.

"That is all great and they can be good mates, but I thought the series started off a bit too friendly. We upped the voltage a couple of days ago. We needed to up the ante a little."

Arthur has already stated that he doesn't think Trott would make the South African starting XI, but he believes Kevin Pietersen might make it.

"It is a tough call because KP has done it over a longer time and really is world class," he added. "But we have world-class young players as well in AB de Villiers and JP Duminy, and we are not even touching the guys we know are world class: Graeme Smith and Jacques Kallis.

"I have read that Ian Chappell compares Duminy to Brian Lara and Ricky Ponting as the next player who will bring crowds into the grounds, and De Villiers is right up there, too."