The Surfer

It is 17 years since Kallis made his debut in 1995, against England. Nobody else from that game is still playing professional cricket, yet he is bowling quicker than 80mph, with some serious bouncers, and not just churning out Test hundreds as he was wont to do but dominating attacks and stamping his authority, going where no all-rounder has been before ... “There is no substitute for hard work,” Kallis said yesterday. “I had a stress fracture in my back in 1997 and had to come home early from the A tour of England. My bowling action is strength-based so I did a lot of work with the trainer and took a course of creatine – small amounts, making sure it was legal ..."

One result is that the late-period Gayle is getting himself out less often. It's not that he's less aggressive. It's tempting to say he's more judicious in his shot selection these days, but it's more that he can execute such a range of shots to perfection seemingly at will, and seemingly without too much concern about what sort of ball has been bowled to him. He can render the quality of the bowling irrelevant, and strike the immense psychological blow of making bowlers and fielding teams feel entirely powerless to stop him.

So who had the bragging rights (which are of modest value) by the end of it all? In the last hour Smith was the only captain who could have won the game, having enticed four wickets in the run chase. England had been brave but their willingness to chase against the odds may have betrayed an anxiety about how the devil they are going to prevail at Lord's.

Smith is the reason South Africa rose to the No. 1 team in the world in 2008 and threaten England’s status now. He has desire, he has ambition and he has considerable presence. He is a leader of men. He is the Table Mountain of South African cricket, robust, immovable, standing tall.

If the sight of Pietersen fires up Steyn and Morne Morkel, then the sight of those bowlers stirs Pietersen in turn. When Steyn, coming up the hill, dropped marginally short and a fraction wide, Pietersen simply flayed him through extra cover, a stroke of withering power and startling hand-eye coordination, the manner in which he treated Steyn in Barbados. The bowler changed ends and did for Trott but Pietersen's response was to flick him through midwicket with such wristy dexterity that his bat seems like balsa.

September 11, 1985, when Sri Lanka recorded their maiden Test victory against India at the P. Saravanamuttu Stadium it was the finest moment for Abu who was the chairman of the National Selection Committee which he served for nearly a decade. When Sri Lanka won the first Test, he was the team manager of the national side. He was one of the best administrators in the field of cricket at that time. When he was in office he was behind a lot of good work in refurbishing the indoor cricket nets and several other modern cricket stadiums such as the Asgiriya International Stadium owned by Trinity College and Khettarama Stadium now called the R. Premadasa Stadium.

Lord's Cricket Ground is steeped in tradition. Every morning, a crew of ground-steepers goes around and steeps the hell out of it. And well they should, for Lord's is the home of the Marylebone Cricket Club, which was founded in 1787 and is the most venerable institution in cricket. If you'd like to become a member, simply write a letter to the club stating your interest, then feed it to a goat, because, trust me, the Marylebone Cricket Club is way too classy to admit the likes of you.

The best Test sides and the best batsmen are not intimidated by orthodox off-spin, even if it is being propelled by Swann. Against Australia and India he averages 40 with the ball, against South Africa 38. There is no disgrace in these figures. Overall his record for England is superb (188 wickets at 29). Swann remains an important part of the puzzle and England's best. But, however many one-liners he delivers over the next week, he will be jolted by his omission at Headingley; it is a harsh reminder that no one is indispensable. He will be hurt as well.

If this had been the first Test of the series, and the sun was shining like it did yesterday, what would they have done? My guess is they’d have stuck with the formula that had taken them to the top of the world rankings: three seamers plus Swann, and bat first. That they changed tactics suggested to me that England’s minds are still slightly scrambled after that experience at The Oval, which Swann himself called a ‘public humilation’. And I speak from personal experience. If Andrew Strauss is honest with himself he must know that he’s ended up making decisions that aren’t quite the product of clear thinking.

By signalling "dead ball" Davis set a dangerous precedent, which led to further non-balls being called. Umpires, of course, have the power to stop play when they want, which is what calling "dead ball" does. But by doing this, and with Finn dislodging the bails on several more occasions – which he tends to do more when bowling at left- handed batsmen – a farcical situation was arising. And why was it farcical? Because, according to the Laws and Regulations, Finn was doing absolutely nothing wrong.

Blythe took eight for 59 in South Africa’s first innings, but couldn’t stop South Africa taking a lead of 34. Then Fry drove powerfully to make 54, easily the highest score of the match. Still, South Africa wanted only 129 to win, and even though they did not have a batsman to equal England’s finest, they batted all the way down.

Are England in it for the long haul? Or, like India before them, are they merely temporary custodians of the No 1 ranking while the cricket world awaits its next proper champions?

The fashionable argument over the past few days has been that England respond well to setbacks. It is a comforting thought, and rarely have Headingley 2009, The Oval 2010, and Perth 2010-11 been so eagerly dusted off. The glass-half-empty argument – hey, this is English cricket we're talking about! – is that England responded rather less well to defeat in the first Test against Pakistan in Dubai in January; and not exactly brilliantly to losing the next game in Abu Dhabi either.