Cricket: Wayward England have work to do

There are worse places for an unbeaten run to come to an inglorious end than Cape Town. Table Mountain, the beaches at Camps Bay, Robben Island and the wineland areas of Stellenbosch and Franschhoek are ideal locations for a crestfallen cricketer to relax and forget about a dreadful week at the office.

But it is to be hoped Michael Vaughan's side do not spend every minute of their two-day break enjoying the sights.

It would be unfair to lambast a team who won 11 and drew two of their previous 13 matches, but this was a poor performance by England, and they will need to significantly improve the quality of their cricket if they are to avenge yesterday's 196-run defeat against South Africa.

Paceman Steve Harmison dominated proceedings yesterday, with his bat, hitting seven fours and a six in a career-best 42, an innings which made him England's top scorer in the second innings - and that just about sums up England's batting in this match.

The fourth test in Johannesburg is only five days away and the five-test series is level at 1-1. But several of Vaughan's side could do with spending a large proportion of this period working on their games. A three-day match against a provincial side is unavailable to England following their decision to scrap a game in Kimberley so that the players could rest.

So net practice it will have to be.

Vaughan was understandably disappointed that his team's unbeaten run had come to an end, but he defended England's decision to cancel the match in Kimberley.

"Only time will tell whether we needed a game in the next week," the England captain said. "But I am pretty confident about our ability to come back from this disappointment.

"I am very happy that we are getting a bit of a break, but I expect individuals to be working on aspects of their game."

England lost this match because their batsmen and bowlers failed to show the same levels of discipline and concentration as South Africa.

Jacques Kallis' batting won the game. It took the South African almost 12 1/2 hours to compile the 215 runs he scored, and he batted for eight hours longer than England's most restrained performer, Andrew Strauss.

Robert Key was dismissed for 0 in England's first innings, as was Marcus Trescothick in the second, but the remaining five front-line batsmen reached double figures in each of their innings. Yet, for the first time since England played the West Indies at Lord's in 2000, not one went on to score a 50.

England would have harboured hopes that they could produce something special on the final day, but the game finished as a contest when the last ball of the sixth over found the outside edge of Graham Thorpe's bat.

Shaun Pollock was bowling the 18th delivery with the second new ball and it was the extra bit of pace and bounce which it produces which caught the left-hander by surprise.

But England failed to capitulate and the lower order showed more fight than their celebrated colleagues. Ashley Giles offered Geraint Jones support for 90 minutes, but both fell to the left-arm spin of Nicky Boje just before lunch.

The fitness of Andrew Flintoff was the only encouraging news to come out of the England dressing-room yesterday. The Lancashire all-rounder was sent for a scan on his left side after feeling discomfort in the area on the fourth day.

The scan revealed a minor tear to a muscle under his 12th rib and England are hopeful that he will be fully fit for the fourth test.

England may be optimistic about Flintoff's health, but they will be taking a huge risk if they expect him to bowl 40 overs at Johannesburg. These injuries do not just disappear and he could rule himself out for four to six weeks if England try to rush his recovery.

- INDEPENDENT