IT was during the first innings of the third Test in Durban when it all started becoming bizarre.

In his role as a TV pundit, David Lloyd, the England coach not too long ago, was lecturing Nasser Hussain for not scoring quickly enough.

His theory for Test cricket was that the instinct for every ball should be to attack. And then, if a good ball comes along, only then it should be defended.

This is where South Africa have been getting it wrong.

Hansie Cronje's men have clearly take the opposing view, that it's worth hanging around long enough for a bad ball to eventually come.

It beggars belief that someone who can reach such a lofty status in the game as David Lloyd could be so out of touch with the fundamentals of Test cricket.

What hope is their for Hussain and his men if their heads are being filled with such twaddle?

I actually think there have been signs of an improvement under the stewardship of Hussain who is a skipper who leads by example.

It would appear that, at last, England have realised their limitations and decided to try and frustrate the opposition down.

The simple fact is that, individually and collectively, England are just not as good as South Africa.

So the type of patient and studious innings that Hussain was playing was exactly what was needed on this tour.

Sadly, it was inevitable that the all-round ineptitude would shone through.

When you have the likes of Darren Maddy, Michael Vaughan, Chris Adams, Gavin Hamilton, Phil Tufnell, Chris Silverwood and Andy Flintoff in your side, what do you expect. These guys are not, and never will be, Test cricketers.

But that does not matter because cricket is, quite rightly, going the same way as rugby did in the last century and developing into two codes - Test cricket and one-day game.

Test cricket will remain the domain of blinkered traditionalists and may survive in some form, while Flintoff and Co will go on to prosper in cricket for the future.

(Refreshingly, Haslingden have taken the lead locally and decided to return to the tried and tested format of limited overs. Let's hope the rest of the Lancashire League follow their lead.)

For England, in the meantime, Duncan Fletcher and Hussain have no other option but to soldier on and hope their new regime bears fruit five years down the line.

Whether Fletcher is the right man to see that through is yet to be proved, although I know cricketers who played under him at Western Province who complained that he never earned the trust of his men.

If Fletcher turns out to be unsuccessful, then there is a man waiting in the wings and ready to inspire England to greater things.

And it would appear that Ian Botham's input is already necessary, after his inspirational rallying cry did the trick following England's dreary display on the second day of the Cape Town Test, when the usual culprits dropped their heads and sulked.

He speaks consistent sense about the state of the game in this country, although I cannot agree that there is a stack of young talent ready to succeed in the Test arena.

That will not change until the game is changed at county level - not at local league level.

And with Lord MacLaurin running the game at the same time as he sets the price of a can of beans at his Tesco stores, that ain't going to happen quickly enough.

Neil Bramwell is the Sports Editor

Converted for the new archive on 14 July 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.