England fails to press advantage

By Ted Corbett

CENTURION PARK, JAN. 14. South Africa had some luck but England wasted a bowler's pitch by failing to bowl the right line and length as the first Test began at Centurion Park today. Only Andrew Caddick hit the right spot consistently but the four- paceman attack could not maintain pressure on the South Africans even when they had half the side out for 102.

Rain - and how it has rained on the High Veld in the last few days - kept play at bay until two o'clock. Allan Donald had to step down at the last minute with an attack of gout. Nantie Hayward took his place; England had Darren Maddy for Andrew Flintoff and Alan Mullally, who has not bowled in a match since the first Test, for Phil Tufnell.

Hussain won the toss for the fourth time in a row and sent South Africa in on a pitch that responded to straight, full bowling. Sadly, someone forgot to tell England although the fifth ball of the match from Darren Gough - the only straight ball in that first over - moved away as Gary Kirsten tried to hit it through mid-wicket and went straight to second slip.

Revenge for the first Test, we thought. Nothing of the sort. Gough in particular bowled all over the place so that batsmen could afford to play no shot to 16 of his first 38 balls. Mullally was even worse for he allowed the batsmen to leave alone six of his 12 deliveries before Hussain took him off. Gough should have been given the wicket of Jacques Kallis at 27 when he had an appeal for a legside catch turned down.

Before play the match referee Barry Jarman had issued a statement criticising writers and TV stations who had damned the work of the umpires in the fourth Test. The appeal against Kallis once again showed up the difference between what the umpire sees in the twinkle of an eye and what TV shows. Jarman's solution is to cut the number of replays shown by the screen on the ground. A more logical man might think more camera work, not less, was the answer.

The superb Caddick repeatedly got the ball to rear chest high as batsmen pulled their bats out of the way but at 15 Herschelle Gibbs was too late and gloved the ball, again to Adams at second slip. At 43 for two we had another break for rain by which time the England bowlers had bowled 38 balls so wide that no shot was needed. As if to run the lesson home Chris Silverwood produced a legside wide off the first ball after the break.

Kallis, who hooked Silverwood for a six in an over that cost 10 runs, played over and round a full-pitched ball from Caddick at 50 and in came the South African captain Hansie Cronje. This poor man could not buy a run in a charity raffle at the moment and after only six balls he was caught at short-leg pushing his bat at the ball more in hope than expectation. Only those with no soul and little imagination did not feel sorry for him as he walked off.

Cronje has scores of 44, 2, 27, 28, 1, 0 and 0 in this series and there is even talk that he will lose his captaincy and his team place to the newcomer Peter Strydom. He had a heart- stopping start to his Test career as he pushed a ball to short- leg and stumbled out of his crease. No doubt Maddy's blood was hot immediately after catching Cronje but he hurled the ball back at Strydom's stumps and missed by a few inches.

Darryl Cullinan and Strydom put on 47 before Strydom was caught behind after being squared up by Silverwood. Maddy dropped a full-blooded pull at mid-wicket when Cullinan was 34. He put his head in his hands and in the following over from Silverwood a four through the covers by Cullinan and six over long-leg by Lance Klusener underlined the error. Cullinan skied his forcing shot against Mullally at 136 to end an innings of pure class.

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