England capitulated here yesterday in the sorriest fashion imaginable, losing the fourth Test by an innings and 37 runs. Faced with the prospect of batting for two days if the match and the series were to be saved, they managed just two sessions instead, capitulating by the stroke of tea.
With the injured Andrew Flintoff unable to bat, the last wicket to fall, that of Phil Tufnell, was a straightforward catch to slip off Paul Adams's quirky left-arm spin. It set off joyous South African celebrations, beginning with an Aussie-style bonding huddle.
England finished at 126 for nine, and although not technically all out, it is the fifth lowest total they have ever made in South Africa. Even on the snakepit at The Wanderers they managed 122. Given that after 42 overs of the first day they had reached 115 without loss, it means that subsequently they lost 19 wickets for 269 runs, and the last 16 for 173 on a pitch on which the South Africans, for the ninth time in their last 11 Tests, exceeded 400.
If England threw it away yesterday with an abject display of batting, then the game was lost, as Nasser Hussain confessed afterwards, when the opening partnership on the first day between Mike Atherton and Mark Butcher was not converted into a challenging total.
Hussain was not prepared to point an accusing finger at any player, but he was clearly upset by the way senior batsmen, most culpably Alec Stewart, had failed to carry into the match the lessons of the previous Tests. "It is possible," Hussain admitted," that we got carried away with the overcharged atmosphere." Adrenaline from the competition, the bowling, and the crowd together with a macho response to on-field jibes in other words. Old hands, Hussain knows, ought to respond better than that.
Yesterday, all sense of English optimism had gone, as if the pressure of hanging on to South Africa's coat-tails had finally got too much after the disappointment of Durban. They played for the most part like men who wanted it over and done with, and wickets were gifted to Lance Klusener, Adams, and Shaun Pollock.
The tone was set when Butcher decided to drive at Pollock's third ball of the morning, that was passing at least 18 inches outside off stump and was caught at the wicket. Neither Hussain nor Duncan Fletcher will countenance this sort of batting beyond this series and, unless redemption appears in the last match at Centurion, Butcher's international future is in doubt. Hussain counterpunched, hooking Donald thrillingly for six, but then, when on 16, was the recipient of the most bizarre lbw decision from the Sri Lankan umpire BC Cooray, when he edged a full length ball from Klusener along the ground through the slips without a hint of pad.
It was not a good day for Cooray, England benefiting when Hussain might have been lbw to Pollock and both Atherton and later Adams were given not out when they knocked bat pad catches to silly point. Atherton indulged in a heated exchange with Daryll Cullinan and went on to top score with 35. He stuck it out until after lunch before he was caught at slip off a Pollock lifter by which time Michael Vaughan had slashed at Klusener to be caught behind. Stewart then found himself in knots against Adams, and finally played all round a low full toss to be bowled leg stump.
Adams had already embarked on a typical block-bash innings, taking some blows to the body from Allan Donald but pummelling anything full or wide through the offside. Adams and Andy Caddick added 39 for the sixth wicket before Caddick drove Donald to square cover. Paul Adams then dismissed his namesake for 31 and the Test was all but over.
Leading world cricket officials Jagmohan Dalmiya and Sir Clyde Walcott are to consider an appeal to suspend a ban on Pakistan fast bowler Shoaib Akhtar over his illegal action. A nineman International Cricket Council (ICC) advisory panel suspended Akhtar for a month last week because of his suspect action.
