Headingley is the least loved of English Test-match grounds and on days like yesterday, with dark clouds scudding across the sky and drizzle falling intermittently, it is the least lovely. On such days, though, the cricket can often be tinged with magic because the conditions offer an intriguing balance between bat and ball. At the end of a splendid first day of the second npower Test match, the ball had comprehensively won the battle, 13 wickets falling for 304 runs. We could be in for a cracking match.

The day had everything – a returning hero, a new cap for a complete unknown and plenty of spicy cricket - everything, except perhaps a substantial innings. There was certainly drama, none more so than towards the end of the day when tempers flared after England were convinced that Michael Vaughan had taken a clean catch at mid-off to dismiss Hashim Amla off Andrew Flintoff. Amla was three quarters of the way to the pavilion when instructed to turn back by Mickey Arthur, the South Africa coach.

Richard Kettleborough, the third umpire, ruled that Vaughan had grounded the ball and Amla resumed his innings. England’s players were incensed, none more so than the normally mild-mannered Andrew Strauss, as were the Headingley crowd. The intensity increased a few notches in the immediate aftermath. Earlier in the day, A. B. de Villiers had also claimed a catch that replays showed to have been grounded, but on that occasion the umpires called for the benefit of technology immediately. This time the umpires responded – dangerously – to the concerns of the team watching the television in the pavilion.

South Africa took the day’s honours. England will feel hard done by, not least because the coin again landed in Graeme Smith’s favour when the clouds had a menacing look and the pitch was clammy to the touch. Then, when South Africa’s turn came to bat, late in the afternoon, the sun shone for the first time and batsmen took on a more proprietorial air at the crease.

For South Africa this was the equivalent of getting a late tee time at Royal Birkdale on the first day of the Open. The key for England is not to do a Sandy Lyle; there is much cricket to be played yet.

Once Smith had made the correct call to bowl first – and, given what happened at Lord’s, this was a brave decision – there was enough movement in the air and off the pitch to make batting a difficult enterprise. The prerequisite, in such conditions, for batsmen is to play the ball late and soft, rather than hard and early; technique must be tight not loose and the temptation to drive must be resisted unless the ball is of half-volley length. Bowlers must try to locate the kind of length that encourages batsmen to drive, but is not the gift of a rank half-volley.

Despite England’s players having more experience and knowledge of these conditions, these strictures were best adhered to by South Africa. Dale Steyn and Morne Morkel, who shared eight wickets between them, bowled a fuller length than they had at Lord’s (although they were still not at their absolute best) and nine of England’s batsmen succumbed in the arc between the wicketkeeper and third slip, mostly the result of expansive strokes ill-suited to the conditions.

Only one England batsman made the game look easy and, in a funny kind of way, this was his undoing. Kevin Pietersen’s batting is on a completely different plane at the moment and for a while either side of lunch, with the ball coming off his bat at rare velocity, he threatened to take the game away from South Africa. He announced himself with a clipped four and a mighty hook for six and was in the kind of form that persuades a man he can hit every ball for four. But that is a dangerous attitude at Headingley, as Pietersen duly found out when, essaying a full-blooded drive, he edged Steyn to Smith.

Alastair Cook fell to human error, Billy Bowden, the umpire, convinced that the ball came off bat instead of thigh pad; Strauss got a good one from Morkel as did Vaughan from Steyn, who is becoming something of a bogeyman for the England captain.

England’s new-look lineup is clearly vulnerable if early wickets fall and Pietersen and Ian Bell fail to capitalise on starts, as they did here. Tim Ambrose is an admirable cricketer but he is no Test-match No 6 and, pushing at an angled ball from Makhaya Ntini, he fell cheaply.

Ambrose was barely halfway back to the pavilion before Flintoff was bounding down the steps, helmet in hand, like the returning hero he is. Much water has flowed under the pedalo since Flintoff last played Test cricket, but his popularity has not diminished; the crowd gave him a magnificent reception and for a while it looked as though he might repay their fervour. He did so later in the day, catching Neil McKenzie at slip and finding the edge of Smith’s bat in his sixth over. He bowled four more and looked hostile throughout.

For Darren Pattinson there were only three wicketless overs. His selection provided a genuine shock at the start of the day, the biggest leap from obscurity to fame since James Anderson made his debut in Australia after only 18 first-class matches, and now Pattinson’s name will be added to the roll call of Headingley “horses for courses” selections.

In truth, he looked a little overawed, as well he might in only his twelfth first-class game. After all, he might have been at Alton Park with the kids yesterday, not opening the bowling for England.



England: First Innings

A J Strauss c Boucher b Morkel 27

(101min, 65 balls, 4 fours)

A N Cook c Boucher b Morkel 18

(48min, 37 balls, 2 fours)

*M P Vaughan c Smith b Steyn 0

(7min, 7 balls)

K P Pietersen c Smith b Steyn 45

(73min, 46 balls, 1 six, 7 fours)

I R Bell b Kallis 31

(81min, 51 balls, 5 fours)

†T R Ambrose c Boucher b Ntini 12

(25min, 17 balls, 1 four)

A Flintoff c Boucher b Steyn 17

(52min, 28 balls, 4 fours)

S C J Broad c De Villiers b Morkel 17

(32min, 20 balls, 3 fours)

J M Anderson not out 11

(40min, 24 balls, 2 fours)

M S Panesar c De Villiers b Morkel 0

(12min, 11 balls)

D J Pattinson c Boucher b Steyn 8

(20min, 14 balls, 1 four)

Extras (lb 6, w 6, nb 5) 17

Total (52.3 overs, 251min) 203

Fall of wickets: 1-26 (11.2; Strauss 7); 2-27 (12.5; Strauss 8); 3-62 (21.4; Pietersen 13); 4-106 (28.2; Bell 12); 5-123 (33.5; Bell 17); 6-150 (38.5; Flintoff 12); 7-177 (44.2; Broad 17); 8-181 (45.2; Anderson 4); 9-186 (48.0; Anderson 8).

Bowling: Steyn 18.3-2-76-4 (1 six, 10 fours; 8-2-24-1, 5-0-30-1, 5.3-0-22-2); Ntini 11-0-45-1 (7 fours; 4-0-14-0, 1-0-4-0/lunch/6-0-27-1); Morkel 15-4-52-4 (nb 5, w 2; 7 fours; 7-2-22-2, 8-2-30-2); Kallis 8-2-24-1 (5 fours; 4-2-5-0, 4-0-19-1).

Scoring notes: First day: Start delayed 9min by drizzle. Lunch 70-3 (24 overs, 112min; Pietersen 17, Bell 4). All out at 4pm - tea taken with 37 overs left.

South Africa: First Innings

N D McKenzie c Flintoff b Anderson 15

(69min, 43 balls, 3 fours)

*G C Smith c Strauss b Flintoff 44

(96min, 67 balls, 8 fours)

H M Amla not out 18

(68min, 36 balls, 2 fours)

J H Kallis b Anderson 4

(12min, 14 balls, 1 four)

A G Prince not out 9

(28min, 16 balls, 2 fours)

Extras (lb 8, nb 3) 11

Total (3 wkts, 29 overs, 139min) 101

A B de Villiers, †M V Boucher, P L Harris, M Morkel, D W Steyn and M Ntini to bat.

Fall of wickets: 1-51 (15.4; Smith 36); 2-69 (20.5; Amla 6); 3-76 (23.5; Amla 9).

Bowling: Anderson 12-2-39-2 (7 fours; 4-0-11-0, 8-2-28-2); Pattinson 3-0-16-0 (3 fours; one spell); Flintoff 10-1-24-1 (nb 3; 3 fours; 3-1-6-0, 7-0-18-1); Broad 4-1-14-0 (3 fours; one spell).

Scoring notes: First day: five-ball over (Flintoff's 8th - Bowden). Close 101-3 (29 overs, 139min; Amla 18, Prince 9).

Umpires: B F Bowden (New Zealand - 48th Test) and D J Harper (Australia - 73rd).

Replay umpire: R A Kettleborough.

Fourth umpire: N A Mallender.

Match referee: J J Crowe (New Zealand).

Series details: First Test (Lord's) Drawn. Tests to come: Third (Edgbaston) July 30-Aug 3. Fourth (Brit Oval) Aug 7-11.

ªCompiled by Bill Frindall