What did you make of the morning's play?

It was fascinating, not only because of the surprise and the shock before the game with England's selection of Darren Pattinson, but also the cricket, which I though was intriguing because the pitch was bowler friendly and the balance between bat and ball was a fine one and there was plenty of interesting cricket.

Do you think the England selectors have got it right?

It's certainly a bold choice. They would have been worried with just four bowlers, because James Anderson has got a stiff back and I think ideally they wanted to play five. Pattinson's selection is an attempt to replace a swing bowler with a swing bowler - that's why he's playing ahead of Chris Tremlett.

Time will tell whether the selectors have got it right.

Were you surprised Pattinson was picked ahead of Matthew Hoggard?

Well I think it sends a clear message that the selectors think Matthew Hoggard's best days are behind him. He's lost a yard of pace and his international career is pretty much over.

The Yorkshire crowd can be fickle, there have been times in the past when a Yorkshire guy has been left out and the guy who has come in has had a pretty tough time of it, so I hope for his sake that Pattinson bowls well because he might get a bit of grief if he doesn't.

What did you make of the dismissal of Alastair Cook?

Our commentary box is directly behind the end that Alastair Cook was batting so we could see straight away it had come off his thigh pad.

Obviously Billy Bowden has made a mistake, he won't be the first and he won't be the last to do that but it was unfortunate for Alastair Cook because he battled quite hard to get through the first hour.

Is that dismissal the root of England's problems?

I wouldn't blame them on one dismissal. Vaughan came in and got a good one from Steyn early on which he poked to first slip and Strauss got a beauty from Morkel. Neither of those two could do much about their dismissal.

What do England have to do after lunch?

It's just a case of battling as hard as they can, feeding on anything loose. Pietersen has shown he is going to play aggressively, he hooked Steyn for six. The key really is if South Africa break through this partnership then that will bring Tim Amrose to the crease and then Flintoff in at seven - that's an opening for South Africa.

So how England's lower middle order cope with the conditions could well be the key to the day.

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