The England selectors have grown used to being able to rubber-stamp Test squads, but their meeting this week is sure to produce lengthy debate after a six-match unbeaten run was brought to an abrupt halt at Headingley Carnegie by a South Africa team who were superior in every facet of the game.

Although a bright and breezy unbeaten 67 by Stuart Broad forced the touring team to bat again, they required only seven balls of their second innings to score the nine runs needed to seal a ten-wicket win in the second npower Test match and go 1-0 up in the four-match series. The third Test, at Edgbaston, starts a week tomorrow.

Just as it had when England named their side last Friday morning, discussion in the wake of defeat centred on Darren Pattinson, with Michael Vaughan, the captain, admitting that the left-field choice of a 29-year-old bowler with only 11 first-class games behind him – five of them in Australia - looked “a confused selection”.

But defeat, as Vaughan acknowledged, could not be attributed to anything as simple as the inexperience of one man, even if it did cause disruption to a settled dressing-room. England slipped to 150 for six and 152 for six in their two innings, while the bowlers, albeit wholehearted, needed 176.2 overs to dismiss South Africa.

Two members of the victorious side, Ashwell Prince and A. B. de Villiers, scored big hundreds, but the best contribution from an England top-order player was Alastair Cook’s 60 from 178 balls in a defensive cause yesterday.

“As a batting unit, and certainly as a top five, we did not do well enough,” Vaughan admitted. “I think the changes unsettled the team. We changed two players, others moved out of position and we left out Paul Collingwood, a huge player in the side. Of course that has an effect. We could see he was very, very disappointed and people were disappointed for him. We did not feel as much of a unit this week as the week before.

“Darren has been given a lot of criticism, but it is not his fault. He got selected, turned up and tried his guts out for us. He bowled some good spells. I felt sorry for him. He didn’t know anyone and we didn’t know him, so it was very difficult. Whether it affected anybody in the dressing-room . . . I have not heard that.”

Although Pattinson was drafted into the squad by the selection panel – Geoff Miller, the national selector, James Whitaker, Ashley Giles and Peter Moores – a decision on the final XI, as always, was taken by Moores, the head coach, and Vaughan, who had faced the bowler only in a Twenty20 match.

Ryan Sidebottom is expected to have recovered from the back problem that opened the way for Pattinson’s selection in time to play at Edgbaston, while James Anderson, who left Headingley with heavy strapping around his right wrist after being struck by Dale Steyn, needs no more than rest after a near-heroic effort as nightwatchman.

The problem – bizarre though it sounds – is that Andrew Flintoff’s return has left the side unbalanced. If he plays as a fifth bowler, then Tim Ambrose is a place too high at No 6. But perming Flintoff in a four-man attack, while allowing Collingwood to return, makes taking 20 wickets all the harder.

England will feel slightly easier about using Flintoff in a quartet after he bowled 40 overs on his comeback and there were glimpses of a return to some sort of form with the bat in his patient innings of 38, which briefly raised the unrealistic hopes of another “Headingley miracle” 27 years to the day after the famous Ashes win.



South Africa won toss

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 lbw b Pattinson 38
(135min, 79 balls, 5 fours)
J H Kallis b Anderson 4
(12min, 14 balls, 1 four)
A G Prince c Ambrose b Pattinson 149
(401min, 284 balls, 2 sixes, 17 fours)
A B de Villiers c Flintoff b Broad 174
(517min, 381 balls, 19 fours)
M V Boucher b Anderson 34
(107min, 88 balls, 2 fours)
M Morkel b Panesar 0
(10min, 6 balls)
P L Harris c Anderson b Panesar 24
(94min, 76 balls, 1 six, 1 four)
D W Steyn not out 10
(18min, 13 balls, 2 fours)
M Ntini c Pietersen b Panesar 1
(14min, 13 balls)

Extras (b 2, lb 19, w 1, nb 7) 29

Total (176.2 overs, 743min) 522

Fall of wickets: 1-51 (15.4; Smith 36); 2-69 (20.5; Amla 6); 3-76 (23.5; Amla 9); 4-143 (43.5; Prince 27); 5-355 (119.0; De Villiers 87); 6-422 (146.0; De Villiers 114); 7-427 (148.5; De Villiers 119); 8-511 (171.5; Harris 24); 9-511 (172.1; Steyn 0).

Bowling: Anderson 44-9-136-3 (19 fours; 4-0-11-0, 8-2-28-2/close/4-2-6-0, 2-1-4-0/lunch/3-0-11-0, 2-0-9-0/tea/5-1-14-0, 9-3-21-0, 4-0-14-1, 2-0-8-0/tea/1-0-10-0); Pattinson 30-2-95-2 (nb 1; 12 fours; 3-0-16-0, 6-0-17-1, 1-0-7-0, 3-0-9-0, 3-0-13-0, 7-2-17-1, 4-0-6-0, 1-0-5-0/tea/2-0-5-0); Flintoff 40-12-77-1 (nb 4; 8 fours; 3-1-6-0, 7-0-18-1/close/3-1-2-0, 4-2-3-0/lunch/2-1-1-0, 2-1-6-0/tea/2-0-9-0, 3.3-2-8-0/rain/1.3-0-4-0, 3-1-2-0, 5-2-6-0, 4-1-12-0); Broad 29-2-114-1 (nb 2, w 1; 17 fours; 4-1-14-0, 4-0-23-0, 6-0-20-0, 2-0-5-0, 2-1-4-0, 2-0-9-0, 5-0-21-0, 4-0-18-1); Panesar 29.2-6-65-3 (3 sixes, 1 four; 12-2-33-0, 1-0-3-0, 2-1-1-0, 11-1-21-1, 3.2-2-7-2); Pietersen 4-0-14-0 (1 four; 2-0-8-0, 1-0-1-0, 1-0-5-0).

Scoring notes: First day: Five-ball over (Flintoff's eighth - Bowden). Close 101-3 (29 overs, 139min; Amla 18, Prince 9). Second day: Rain delayed start by 15min. Lunch 158-4 (52 overs, 244min; Prince 34, De Villiers 7). Second new ball taken at 3.25pm - 247-4 (81 overs). Tea 262-4 (85 overs, 364min; Prince 100, De Villiers 44). Rain break 5.15 to 6.23pm (314-4; 101.3 overs). Rain ended play at 6.37pm. Close 322-4 (105 overs, 454min; Prince 134, De Villiers 70). Third day: Lunch 384-5 (134 overs, 574min; De Villiers 103, Boucher 8). Third new ball taken at 3.31pm - 467-7 (163 overs). Tea 480-7 (166 overs, 697min; De Villiers 158, Harris 11). All out at 4.49pm - 24 overs left.

England: Second Innings

A J Strauss c Boucher b Ntini 0
(15min, 13 balls)
A N Cook c Amla b Kallis 60
(283min, 178 balls, 6 fours)
*M P Vaughan c Boucher b Ntini 21
(90min, 53 balls, 3 fours)
J M Anderson lbw b Steyn 34
(112min, 80 balls, 4 fours)
K P Pietersen c Boucher b Kallis 13
(6min, 5 balls, 3 fours)
I R Bell c De Villiers b Morkel 4
(32min, 28 balls)
T R Ambrose c Boucher b Steyn 36
(135min, 94 balls, 5 fours)
A Flintoff c Kallis b Morkel 38
(127min, 95 balls, 5 fours)
S C J Broad not out 67
(89min, 60 balls, 11 fours)
M S Panesar b Steyn 10
(24min, 14 balls, 1 four)
D J Pattinson b Morkel 13
(49min, 36 balls, 2 fours)

Extras (b 4, lb 11, w 2, nb 14) 31

Total (107 overs, 486min) 327

Fall of wickets: 1-3 (3.5; Cook 3); 2-50 (22.4; Cook 23); 3-109 (46.4; Cook 44); 4-123 (47.2; Cook 44); 5-140 (55.0; Cook 51); 6-152 (59.3; Ambrose 0); 7-220 (86.5; Flintoff 26); 8-238 (89.5; Broad 5); 9-266 (94.3; Broad 22).

Bowling: Steyn 28-7-97-3 (nb 1; 12 fours; 8-2-20-0, 7-3-21-1, 2-2-0-0, 2-0-10-0, 9-0-46-2); Ntini 25-7-69-2 (nb 5, w 1; 9 fours; 5-1-13-1, 4-2-3-1/stumps/ 6-1-16-0, 5-3-2-0, 3-0-20-0, 2-0-15-0); Morkel 22-4-61-3 (nb 8, w 1; 7 fours; 7-2-12-0/stumps/ 3-0-6-0, 5-1-11-1, 2-0-10-0, 4-1-21-1, 1-0-1-1); Kallis 17-3-50-2 (8 fours; 3-0-9-0, 1-0-4-1/lunch/8-2-14-1, 1-0-2-0, 4-1-21-0); Harris 15-5-35-0 (4 fours; 5-0-19-0, 4-3-1-0/tea/2-1-2-0, 2-0-5-0, 2-1-8-0).

Scoring notes: Third day: Stumps (at 6.53pm) 50-2 (24 overs, 114min; Cook 23, Anderson 0). Fourth day: Lunch 130-4 (49 overs, 235min; Cook 46, Bell 1). Tea 182-6 (77 overs, 356min; Ambrose 16, Flintoff 9). Second new ball taken at 4.10pm - 186-6 (80 overs). All out at 6.11pm.

South Africa: Second Innings

*G C Smith not out 3
(5min, 3 balls)
N D McKenzie not out 6
(5min, 4 balls, 1 four)

Extras 0

Total (no wkt, 1.1 overs, 5min) 9

Bowling: Broad 1-0-8-0 (1 four), Pattinson 0.1-0-1-0.

Scoring notes: Fourth day: South Africa won by ten wickets.

Match award: A G Prince.

Umpires: B F Bowden (New Zealand, 48th Test) and DJ 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 Test (Edgbaston) July 30-Aug 3. Fourth Test (Brit Oval) Aug 7-11.

Compiled by Bill Frindall