In Guyana last winter the West Indies batted first on a pitch that was falling apart before a ball was bowled. The runs they made on the first day, 271 of them at a cost of just three wickets, set the game so absolutely in their favour that the irresistibility of Ambrose and Walsh was exaggerated by the hopelessness of the situation.

Then, on a wet wicket in Antigua, England were put in after a delayed start. They finished the first evening on 36 for two, were bowled out for a painful 127 the next day and watched the West Indies slam 126 for no wicket by the close of play. Granted, there was no excuse for their last-afternoon collapse but had the toss gone to them they would not have had to bat last.

Now, here at Old Trafford on the most lifeless pitch - a pitch that would have sucked the sting from any attack in the world had they to bowl first - England wheeled away, honest and steady but always victims of the surface and of South Africa's remorseless determination. To bat once in the match was the South African plot and their effective, if uninspirational means just about justified their now unassailable total.

The pitch is a pity because Peter Marron, the groundsman, has tried hard for more spice but clearly England's bowling is plain when a pitch is this flat. Since Trinidad and all that lavish movement off the seam coupled with the dodgy bounce, Angus Fraser has taken 13 wickets in six matches - Dean Headley has taken the same number of wickets but in just four matches. Dominic Cork likes the ball to swing, though here he has bowled with great sense and control, and it is only Darren Gough who can truly transcend conditions and consistently threaten the batsmen.

What we are finding out is that on covered pitches finger spinners are better at defending than attacking. Finger spinners still do take wickets in Test cricket, Saqlain Mushtaq and Muttiah Muralitharan are the proof, but it is wrist spin which is the gold of the game. England must hope that Ian Salisbury can bring his improvement to the uncompromising world of Test match cricket otherwise pitches which dart about off the seam will become a necessity and therefore the norm.