Live Test Match Blogging / Ed Hawkins / 13 July 2008 /

South Africa have their backs against the wall after Michael Vaughan enforced the follow-on. The sun is shining at Lord's and England's bowlers have their tails up. Ed Hawkins is watching it all and reporting on all the action from the price on the draw to the best cakes to go with his afternoon cup of tea...

18.31 SA 242-2 CLOSE
Turgid stuff here at HQ today. And it is a depressing thought that there is likely to be similar fare on offer tomorrow. England's body language is reminiscent of stalemates past against Sri Lanka and Pakistan when they looked tired and shorn of ideas. It is difficult to suggest what they can do to take the remaining nine South Africa wickets given that the new ball did not bring the clatter of victims that they had hoped. With the obdurate pair of NeilMcKenzie and Hashim Amla to remove and Jacques Kallis still to come, they are well aware there is an enormous amount of work to do, particularly with South Africa only 104 behind. The load is heavy enough to suggest that weary minds and bodies may not be capable of taking it on. So the prices are: England [5.7], the draw [1.21] and South Africa a rather pointless [130.00].

18.10 SA 234-1
The obsessive compulsive Neil McKenzie has a century. I hope that means his poor wife is allowed to go for a walk around. McKenzie celebrated his century in a gentlemanly way, which was refreshing. He eschewed the modern trend to pump his fist, shout, leap around and generally behave like a cock for calmly raising his bat to all four corners. England look a desperate side and have been forced to bring on Monty Panesar. So much for relying on seam and swing from the new ball.

18.04 SA 226-1
Bit of breaking news here. A player tested positive for a banned substance during the inaugural IPL tournament.

17.51 SA 219-1
Fascinating (haven't used that word yet today) over from James Anderson to Hashim Amla. He bowled three absolute snorting short balls - one almost cut Amla's throat - before throwing in the obligatory full one to see if the batsman was shy in coming forward. He wasn't. Cue another short ball then. This time Amla gloved one just wide of Ian Bell at short leg.

17.43 SA 215-1
There are 12 overs left tonight and it is difficult not to believe that England will be feeling severely down if they do not have at least two South Africa wickets. The field could be more attacking. A deep square leg is in place for McKenzie at the mo. Surely it would not be taking a chance to move him in to the gully with Pietersen.

17.28 SA 204-1
James Anderson strikes. The new ball has worked, ending Graeme Smith's vigil. The hard red cherry hurried through and Smith was too late on a pull and only succeeded in getting a top edge to his mate Pietersen, running in from the gully. The draw price drifted from [1.24] to [1.37]. Watch England target Hashim Amla with some short stuff.

17.21 SA 200-0
Remember how we were talking about England dropping catches v Sri Lanka in 2006? Well, they've just dropped their first. Tim Ambrose has spilled a chance he should have taken from Graeme Smith off the bowling of Kevin Pietersen no less. Bad timing from Ambrose as England have just taken the new ball and would have had a fresh batsman to use it against.

17.05 SA 192-0
Graeme Smith has his century. It has been a lesson in obduracy and patience, an innings no doubt which our pal Mr Boycott would have enjoyed. Not for the rest of us though. The wicket is so flat that the batsman has time to have a sandwich mid-stroke. Whatever bet you've had, these sort of matches do Test cricket no favours. At a time when the five-day format is under threat it is a disgrace that the 'home of cricket' produces such turgid batsman-friendly surfaces.

16.48 SA 173-0
The body language is not good from the England players. After Stuart Broad kicked the turf following a wide, James Anderson laboured to return the ball to the bowler and six other fielders were standing with hands on hips. Andrew Strauss appears to be directing affairs with Michael Vaughan off the field. Interesting. One would have thought that Paul Collingwood would have been entrusted with such a role. A pointer for selection for the second Test next week?

16.30 SA 162-0
The new ball is due in 12 overs time. If you have laid the draw, or backed England, then be prepared to press the panic button is they do not make use of it. Until then - which will be around the 100 over mark - try to relax and not think about the fact that in Hashim Amla and Jacques Kallis South Africa have two blokes perfect for batting time in Tests. Graeme Smith has 90, by the way.

16.22 SA 155-0
During tea I saw South Africa legend Barry Richards. A brilliant batsman, Barry is, of course, more well-know today for walking round with a haircut which is akin to having a loaf of bread on his head. A sort of farmhouse white these days. He, along with bread bonce Trevor Penney, were the inspirations for me setting up the Bread Head Fan Club on Facebook. You can also see astonishing loaves from RP Singh, 'the croissant' from Michael Heseltine and David Hasselhoff, who in early episodes of Knightrider used his bread head to distract viewers from woeful acting skills

16.07 SA 139-7
The draw is now [1.38], which is approaching the shortest price for the match. I should clear up the reason why I chose the fourth innings for my research into the average number of overs needed for one wicket to fall. With England unlikely to bat again - South Africa are scoring at less than two an over - this is effectively the final innings of the game.

15.32 SA 128-0 TEA
Extraordinary array of cake on offer: chocolate, carrot, fruit, fairy, lemon drizzle,sponge. And to go with we've got tea and coffee. For the first few days we had some rather fetching Lord's mugs to drink out of. But rather interestingly they are now nowhere to be seen. I wonder if that's because the journos nicked tham all. I know I put mine in my bag at the end of day one.

15.26 SA 124-0
I've just been doing sums, which will not make for happy reading for all those draw layers out there. Over the last five fourth-innings at Lord's, a wicket has fallen every 18 overs. That means if that trend continues, with 41 overs left and another 90 tomorrow, England will have only seven wickets. Having said that, let's not forget that it took England 199 overs to take nine Sri Lanka wickets in 2006 and they dropped about 10 catches.

15.08 SA 114-0
With cricket going through a money-mad stage, here's a refreshing fact: Ashwell Prince, the No 5 and first black South African to score a century at Lord's, does not have an agent. My friend from South Africa community radio told me that. I told him to get in there, sign him up and start touting him around the IPL teams.

15.53 SA 109-0
It is at times like this when England miss Andrew Flintoff. The ball is old and not swinging and they need someone to impart some brute force. Flintoff famously bowls a "heavy ball" which to you and me means he bowls quicker than everyone else. Rather fittingly, he has just taken his second wicket for Lancashire against Hampshire to reduce the home team to 48 for five. With every wicketless over that passes, he is getting closer to a return to the team at Headingley on Friday.

14.40 SA 103-0
South Africa batsman Paul Harris has just been spotted reading a Jeffrey Archer 'book'. I wonder if he's scanning it for tips about how to deceive his opponents?

14.31 SA 98-0
England are showing encouraging form with the ball at present. James Anderson induced Neil McKenzie into an edge which did not carry to Tim Ambrose behind the sumps and Stuart Broad has drawn a false shot out of Grame SmMith - a mistimed check drive which balooned into no-man's land.

14.19 SA 88-0
Old chum Gooders has emailed (hawkeyeview@hotmail.co.uk) with some sage advice. "Obviously you still recall the pain of 2006 (sitting next to me demanding cake for five days can't have helped), but it was a bit of a freak. From memory England dropped about 10 catches during that second innings,so they effectively bowled Sri Lanka out three times. England might cock it up again, South Africa might bat superbly, or both. But surely the most likely outcome is that South Africa are eventually bowled out and England win. Maybe I'm wrong - that view is not now reflected in the prices - but 2006 is hardly a guide.

14.07 SA 84-0
I have laid the draw at [1.88] just in case you though I was all mouth and no trousers. And I've just looked up England's final dominance to draw scenario at Lord's. It was when India were here last summer. England set them 380 and they were denied by one wicket with Mahendra Singh Dhoni playing a rather marvellous innings. Have a look at the scorecard here https://content-uk.cricinfo.com/statsguru/engine/match/258468.html
What it doesn't tell you is that England dillied and dallied in the field, costing them vital time.

13.56 SA 75-0
Perhaps some of you are taking some of the advice on here. The draw has drifted to [2.18]. Mind you, it will probably shorten again when one of these two plays a stroke.

13.41 SA 67-0
I've overdone it at lunch. Too much choco mousse. Oooof. While I digest that and wait for the inevitable sugar high, let's delve into the history book again...in May 2007, England found themselves in another winning position at HQ. Having been put in to bat (sound familiar?) by West Indies they amassed 553 for five declared. West Indies replied with 437 but England could not force victory thanks to some poor weather on the final day. Here's the scorecard https://content-www.cricinfo.com/statsguru/engine/match/258459.html

13.00 SA 67-0 LUNCH
At the break South Africa are quite happy. Survival has been serene. The prices are as follows: England [2.14] and the draw [1.92]. Yep, odds-on the stalemate. That is crazy stuff. Forget the ghosts of Lord's past, there is still plenty of time left in this match for England to win it and the weather for the rest of the day and tomorrow is set fair, A solid lay as you'll ever see.

12.47 SA 51-0
By the way, I should clear up that when I said Neil McKenzie had lots of OCDs, that didn't mean he was a keen fan of rock band Orson. Obsessive Compulsive Disorder. My flatmate suffers from the same 'ailment'. He cannot have anything to do with the number 13, or numbers which could add up to 13. He will not put petrol in his car to the tune of 13. So if the total shows £7.33, he will have to go to £7.34. Nor will he buy something from a shop which could add up to 13, so asandwich he is desperate to devour to stave off hunger at a price of £1.30, he would rather starve. I haven't yet pointed out that we live at Flat 6 No 34.

12.20 SA 46-0
Neil McKenzie, he with the plethora of OCDs, is driving England to distraction. One of his foibles is that his wife must not move from her seat while he is batting. I hope for the sake of her bladder that she was not present when McKenzie batted for 406 minutes in Chittagong in February. Of course with everyone aware of the meltdown that McKenzie would suffer if his missus did shuffle in a seat, all England need do if he is holding them up too long in this game is to instruct a couple of heavies to find her and turf her out.

12.00 SA 42-0
A couple of things have happened here to interrupt our trip down memory lane. Stuart Broad has switched ends and is now bowling with the pavilion to his back, possibly meaning that Ryan Sidebottom, back on the field again, will take over from the Nursery. Also, England are getting cranky about the ball. They just tried to get in changed, claiming it has been hit out of shape. It ain't swinging.

11.40 SA 35-0
If South Africa require extra inspiration to save this match they need to look no further than Sri Lanka's batsmen, who in 2006 at Lord's batted for two-and-a-half days to save the Test. It is a match best remembered for Andrew Flintoff bowling his ankle to disintegration with 51 second-innings overs as Sri Lanka amassed 537-9. Have a look at the scorecard here https://content-uk.cricinfo.com/statsguru/engine/match/225264.html
Meanwhile, Sidebottom is off the field,presumably having that niggle attended to. Have England inadvertently solved the Andrew Flintoff conundrum?

11.26 SA 25-0
Sidebottom has been removed from the attack after three timid overs and replaced with Stuart Broad. But he hasn't started off much better. Generally it's all been to leg side from England this morning. They must tighten up their line. Draw [2.54] is slowly coming in. In a mo I'll jog memories of how England get into unbeatable positions at Lord's and then make a mess of it.

11.10 South Africa 19-0
Survival is the name of the game for South Africa. Their cause could be helped by a stiff-looking Ryan Sidebottom. His approach, apt given his hair colour, to the crease could be described as 'gingerly'. His pace looks to be down and it begs the question: if he's carrying a niggle, why is he bowling? England are [1.68] and the draw is [2.58] on the match market. I reckon the former will be drifting this morning while the latter will get shorter.

11.01 South Africa 17-0
Good morning folks. Lord's is at its best this morning. Blue skies abound and the stands are approaching capacity. Batting conditions are perfect, too epitomised by Neil McKenzie's second-ball four through the covers. The press box is a bit empty, though because we have no Sunday newspaper journos here. This is also good news because it will mean there is more grub for the rest of us.

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