South Africa neither bowled well nor had the moments of fortune that can make or break an iffy performance. On a day that began with exaggerated seam movement and finished with plenty of swing, to encourage their five faster bowlers, they were resisted by truly impressive if not especially spectacular batting that could well set up England's summer.

For now, at least, the discussions about who should go in first can stop because Atherton confirmed his status as England's finest defensive batsman and Butcher confirmed his talent, which, coming on the back of a pair in Antigua, was a pretty decent effort.

A couple of days ago Butcher said that he was scoring runs for Surrey in areas that he had not been able to locate for a year or more. He proved as much yesterday right from the top of the show when, in the third over, he drove Allan Donald wide of mid-on with imperious timing and a deal of elegance. Soon after he drove another boundary through mid-off off Donald and the point made by his father and the Surrey coach, Alan, that his boy plays best when he makes a positive stride forward and gets his nose over the ball to drive, was vividly illustrated.

Last summer against Australia and through the winter in the Caribbean, Butcher's out-of-touch batting was based on survival, so that he might not waste his opportunity, and therefore it was difficult to judge its merit.

It was an excellent choice by the selectors to stick with him and anyway they had invested too much to discard him. Having rewarded them with a cool 77 yesterday, he will want to reward them with hundreds from now on.

Before yesterday Atherton had 11 Test hundreds under his belt and again it was Edgbaston which provided him with something special. He captained England here for the first time in 1993 and was beaten by Australia. He and his team were brutally worked over by the West Indians in 1995 but with some style they have beaten both India and Australia to kick off the last two summers in style.

Now he made a hundred at Edgbaston for the first time and in doing so was back to his attritional best. His vast experience dealt expertly with the wild cocktail of short stuff, wide stuff and unplayable stuff served up by the tourists.

It was most enjoyable to watch the convincing manner in which he pieced together his innings, a craftsman with a seemingly inevitable end to his means. The kiss he gave to the badge on his helmet reminded us of his enormous pride. He is an extraordinary man.