England fail to stand up

Nasser Hussain had insisted that on a pitch that promised to make life difficult for batsmen and profitable for bowlers he wanted his men to stand up and be counted.

Yesterday afternoon, after he had won a toss almost as vital as that in the first Test at the Wanderers, he went back into his dressing-room and reiterated that statement. "Make them play," he said. "Bowl straight and make them play." Well, perhaps the dressing-room stereo was on too loud or maybe Messrs Gough, Caddick, Mullally and Silverwood were indulging in some prematch meditation and were oblivious. Clearly they had not heard. This particular character test proved too much for the lot of them.

On the face of it the figures would seem to indicate a job well done after dank, cold, drizzly rain had prevented any play until 2 p.m. By the early close to a day curtailed at the start and disrupted slightly in the middle the South African innings had been reduced to 155 for six and, one might reasonably think, well done England.

Which just goes to show how figures can conceal the truth, for this was a pitch on which McGrath, Ambrose, Hadlee, Srinath or Pollock, indeed any pace bowler who could exhibit the rudiments of control, would have embarrassed the opposition. Instead Hussain, rather than coaxing the definitive performance from his four-man pace attack, received a slap in the face.

Excuses will be suggested - damp footholds, moist ball, too cold - anything indeed to divert attention from the truth which is that in conditions in which all of them should have revelled, they were appalling.

The straight ball, far from being the nagging norm, was used sparingly, as a surprise alternative to that which drifted feet outside off-stump or wide down the leg-side just to keep Alec Stewart on his toes.

The macho short ball was used at the expense of the more sassy length delivery. The principal culprit was Alan Mullally whose first 10 overs cost only as many runs purely because the majority of his deliveries were out of range.

But Darren Gough sprayed it, while Andy Caddick could not quite make the fine adjustment in line and length required. As for Chris Silverwood, oh my, he may have a big heart but this pitch required skill as well. He was clattered unmercifully in his seven overs. South Africa, who had aimed for 200, were off the hook, and as the day drew to its end, Lance Klusener once more was biffing out his familiar tattoo on the boundary boards with a hooked six and a single boundary smashed square.

All this after England had received the best possible bonus before play began when it was announced that Allan Donald had been forced to withdraw because of gout in the big toe of his right foot, a condition he has suffered from in the past.

England, as had been expected, had brought in speedster Mullally for Phil Tufnell (did they give a moment's thought to Alex Tudor?) while Darren Maddy will bat at seven instead of Andy Flintoff.