Captaining England is a job for the masochist, never more so than over the last three days at Headingley when every run and every wicket has dripped with sweat and England’s ability to rise from the ashes has been matched by their tendency to get their fingers burnt.
Imagine, for example, being responsible – and captains do take things personally – for a side capable of pulling off the sort of miracle catch which removed Jacques Kallis in the first innings and the sort of incompetence which saw three others shelled in the next 20 minutes.Or the one who established a firm foothold on the first day only to fall head over heels in the last hour. IT IS only a matter of time before Alec Stewart, like so many England captains before him, starts to look his age. Already, just five Tests into his new career, strange lines are emerging on his face which were not there in May and have nothing to do with his love of a good laugh. One day it may be seen as Boomtime 1998, the start of England’s pre- Millennium recovery.Henry Blofeld, page 18.

That was in 1922-23 when they lost the first, won the second, drew the next two and won the last by 109 runs. The opponents were South Africa.It is to be hoped that the television wallahs were rewarded for their gamble in taking off the repeat documentary so these climactic proceedings could be seen. The programme in question was People’s Century: Boomtime 1948 It was all about the start of England’s post-war recovery What was on instead filled the slot admirably. Only once have England come from behind to win such a series in the decisive match.

Maybe this moved the contest back to evens again but at the back of everybody’s mind was the prospect that where England are concerned they could lead by 400 and South Africa could win by eight wickets.Only 12 five-match series involving England have arrived at the final Test with the outcome in the balance. The score had not advanced by a solitary run when he lost his captain. It was another lifting, length ball and the edge to the wicketkeeper was regulation. They had scored 13 more runs than in the morning, were 119 ahead and had eight wickets left.Hussain passed 50 for the 13th time in Tests, off 161 balls and when he reached 61 he had accumulated 2,000 Test runs. A low- scoring, tense match such as this is replete with key moments but that drop and the half-hour which followed will take some beating when the analysis comes to be done The little flurry enabled England to reach tea at 141. How the South Africans tempted them, bowling just outside the off stump, inviting the injudicious jab None was forthcoming Donald tried something different.He bounced Hussain The batsman hooked him and hooked him again. He drove Pollock for four, gathered another boundary when he was dropped off the rearing, good length ball which followed as Jacques Kallis at second slip dived across Brian McMillan at first, and summarily clipped the next one through square leg.If that seemed to answer the question it also appeared to trigger something in Stewart’s psyche He and Hussain then played out 29 scoreless balls.

It was a matter for momentary debate whether Alec Stewart might adopt his routine approach and take the attack to the bowlers. But he will go to Australia in a few weeks as the natural left- handed foil to Atherton. His advance is testimony to the worth of the system of A tours.The afternoon was only a quarter of an hour old when he edged Pollock to second slip The partnership of 81 was then the highest of the match It was that kind of match. At the start of this series Butcher’s place was in doubt and his method was being called into question. Unlike Donald on the previous day he did not brandish his bat to the Western Terrace.England had to regroup carefully at that point and through Mark Butcher and Hussain they did so. There was some playing and missing, there was some pretty top-class bowling but the batsmen did not wilt. They had reached 67 by lunch at which point there had been no more wickets.

It was slow, painstaking and enrapturing.When Butcher was 23 he pulled a ball in the air perilously close to square leg but for the rest of the time he was phlegmatic, playing upright and driving occasionally and if not quite with languor then at least handsomely He looked a Test match opener. His pads were adjacent and if the inside edge of his bat probably intervened, the verdict was delivered quickly Atherton walked off ruefully. Every run was sacred and the tourists did not yield any lightly. Wickets were hardly of any less value and England, for once, put a high premium on them but England, in this regard, can be suspiciously like a dodgy insurance company.
The sky and the pitch looked capricious but both behaved well enough for the lead of 300 to which England must aspire to remain tantalisingly within reach. This is the sort of match for which they might have considered clearing entire channels for days at a time so that neither a ball nor a nuance are missed.