No rest for the weary as final Test opens

Cricket/Fifth Test preview: The clamour that followed Matthew Hoggard's irresistible, match-winning bowling at The Wanderers has barely died down and the fifth and final Test is upon us.

There really does seem no time to rest, recuperate, and restore mind and body to the level that ought to be expected from international sportsmen.

That they have provided such a compelling series in the face of just about the most mean-spirited itinerary ever devised for a Test tour is a tribute to the fitness, stamina and desire of both sides.

Inevitably, with such demand being placed on body and mind, there have been casualties. Andrew Flintoff, for example, is coping manfully in the face of a side niggle and, more pertinently, a flaring-up of a chronic ankle condition which was injected with cortisone on Wednesday and may yet require surgery. He felt fine though, he said yesterday, but had not bowled in practice.

Then there is Steve Harmison, under the weather throughout the series so far and now suffering from an inflammation at the top of his left calf muscle. Two weeks' rest would fix it, said the team physio Kirk Russell this week, but there are not two weeks to spare at the moment so he will plough on. He did not turn his arm over yesterday, either. And shaking hands with Ashley Giles demands care because the thumb he dislocated is still throbbing away.

Nor have the opposition escaped unscathed. Yesterday they decided not to risk the seam bowler Charl Langeveldt, who surely would have put England under pressure in the fourth Test, his broken left hand still not to be trusted.

The rest are more footsore and weary than hurt, although the South Africa captain Graeme Smith is still suffering from bouts of nausea and dizziness caused by the blow he took on the head in practice on the penultimate morning in Johannesburg.

Now it is time for one last effort from both teams, at least until the whistle-stop tour of the country that masquerades as a one-day series begins at the end of next week.

England captain Michael Vaughan may feel he has one hand already on the D'Oliveira Trophy for which the teams are playing. But the job is far from done.

England will know that Centurion, a ground with only a short history (England's opening match here in November 1995, a horribly rain-wrecked affair in which Graeme Hick scored a superb century, was the inaugural game) has nonetheless been something of a banker for South Africa. That first draw has been followed by results all down the line, with seven wins to the home side, including one against Australia, and a single defeat, to England last time they were here, an outcome made possible only by the activities of the criminal Hansie Cronje.

In general, the Centurion pitch has gathered a reputation for lacking pace and carry. If seam bowlers are to get a chance it seems to come best at the start of the match, conditions tending to ease thereafter. Only one captain, Arjuna Ranatunga, has opted to bat first on winning the toss, but with Muttiah Muralitharan in his team that was not surprising. Sri Lanka did make the highest score of the game but still lost by six wickets.

This surface, bare for the most part but with a mosaic of thick grass outlining cracks like crazy paving, looks as if it will provide a lively track. Batsmen facing the new ball will find it two-paced and of uneven bounce, the degree of which will depend on whether the ball lands on grass and which side of the patch it catches.

The toss, Vaughan said yesterday, might prove crucial. England cannot afford to sit back and grind out the draw that would give them the series, nor is it their style.

With all bowlers available for selection, the only decision to make would be whether Simon Jones returns at the expense of James Anderson. The latter found the expectation of The Wanderers hard to cope with after a total lack of match practice. But Centurion could suit him as well and he might be in a more relaxed state with a game behind him.

The South Africans will give it a go ("I am a go-for-broke captain," said Smith yesterday) but they are making yet more changes. Already Dale Steyn has gone, to be replaced by the fast bowler Andre Nel, and the chances are that Boeta Dippenaar will be displaced by the all-rounder Andrew Hall.

Guardian Service