Toward the great escape

England now have an opportunity to show that, like South Africa, they are capable of batting for two days to save a test match. But things will be a little different for England. They will bat after having spent two days in the field and they will face a fresh bowling attack. Rain would make for a good ally under these circumstances; as would a wayward South African bowling attack. The first is more likely than the second, a depressing prospect for the English. Still, they can take comfort from the fact that their first innings debacle was a product of some risky strokeplay as well as good bowling. (As I write this, Strauss has fallen and Vaughan is in). The stage is set for all sorts of myth-making: the return of the great Ashes-winning all-rounder, the hero-in-exile exacting revenge on his former homeland, the indomitable English skipper wrapped in a Union Jack keeping the hordes at bay. Perhaps one should wish for a South African win; otherwise god knows how many hagiographic column inches we might have to wade through in the years to come.