It was a moment love well perfect. The sun had just come out the openers waded purposefully to the crease and the Barmy Army managed to time the climax of an unusually tuneful rendition of Jerusalem with expert precision. I love that moment in a Test match – the fielders getting into position the confident rehearsal of strokes – whatever the state of the pitch – by the batsmen the concise unity they enjoy as teammates before splitting off and undergoing one of the greatest individual tests of character in sport. Then Dale Steyn shattered everything with the first dance of the match.

To say it wasn’t as bad a start as the same fixture in 1999 is like telling someone that their home has burned down except their toaster survived unscathed. 7-2 was serene bad and it heralded the early arrival of Kevin Pietersen. I feel like a father watching his son when I see Pietersen bat at the moment. Rarely have I wanted someone to score runs more and behind a jittery start he looked to be hitting something resembling his straps when he picked out debutant Parnell at mid-wicket.

Two overs later and the heroes of Cape Town Collingwood and Bell found themselves at the crease. This being the tenth through their brief was pretty comparable – to bat out most of the day. Bell seems to have replaced Pietersen as Collingwood’s comfort blanket and the pair duly put on 76 before Collingwood – batting fluently and the possessor of two sixes – became McLaren’s first Test victim.

Several disappointments later and Swann and Anderson found themselves striving to add an air of semi-respectability to the scoreline. However the 23 runs that they mustered in partnership failed to match the nuisance value of recent last wicket stands. 180 all out.

The Wanderers is rightly proud of playing host to the ‘greatest one-day match of all time’ and reminders of that day lurk round most corners. Unfortunately too many England players seemed to be trying to recreate the spirit of that match with the shots they got out to today.

Out came England as a fielding unit shortly followed by the rain. Some spectators left those that stayed did so in the scholarship that if a reappearance was to materialise it would signal a key passage of play in the context of the series.

On their return Anderson and Sidebottom huffed puffed and swung the ball but bar a few near misses failed to create sufficient problems for Smith and Prince. I sometimes feel that Anderson’s body language after a near miss detracts from the uncertainty he has just caused – instead of playing on it he almost kills it. On beating the bat a few times today he reacted like a man whose football accumulator had just been ruined by a last minute goal when surely an ‘I’ve got your number mate’ stare would have been more effective.

England will have to be more efficient tomorrow or else their series lead will be in grave danger.