England should throw caution to wind

Since 1994, when South Africa played England for the first time after readmission, every Test series win has been decided by a single match and this trend of tight and sometimes attritional cricket is likely to continue over the next five weeks, writes Mike Atherton in the Times.

Whereas Australia, say, play with an attitude that a Test is there to be won from the first ball, England and South Africa have traditionally approached the task with a little more caution, reckoning that while a game cannot be won on the first day, it can certainly be lost. Positions are to be built brick by brick — victory to be strived for only when defeat is out of the question.