England v South Africa 2012

Day 4 Close SA 637-2 dec Amla 311 no Kallis 182 no. ENG. 102-4.England trail South Africa by 150 runs.

South Africa bt England by an Inns & 12 runs.Eng 2nd Inns 240 all out.Bell 55 Steyn 56-5.

Not so much beaten as crushed. To say England were outplayed is putting it mildly.

Let's hope we can return to somewhere near decent for the next test. I'm still finding it hard the lack of first-class cricket that our lot were playing, one reason is of course the bloody twenty20 being in one huge great block , we were 'undercooked'. But at the end of the day well played to SA.

South Africa have a 3 day match v Worc on Friday,good practice for the batsmen that missed out Petersen,DeVilliers, Rudolph & Duminy.4 day matches where Broad,Bresnan,Swann,Pietersen,Strauss,Trott,Prior could play also start on the same day.I would guess that none of these will play,some could do with a run out.

Selectors .... please pick Finn.

He needs to be the 1st name on the team sheet for the next test...

If Onions is fit I'd play him & Finn.Drop Broad who's pace is down & Swann as spinners aren't effective at Headingley.

England won't make any panic selections, despite this being their biggest defeat ever. Finn may well come in, but he's already very close to selection anyway. Bopara's position will be up for discussion, but there's little chance of Swann being discarded.

They have to give Bopara another chance. They can't just give him the one test. As for the bowling, everything will depend on the overhead conditions at Headingley. If the sun's shining expect Finn, but if it's going to be overcast expect Bresnan to keep his place on his home ground.

Ravi Bopara is unavailable for selection for the 2nd Test has been replaced by James Taylor.Otherwise the squad is unchanged with Finn & Onion the players who missed out on making the starting eleven in the last match.