Giles worries over future of English spin

Herschelle Gibbs, the South Africa opener, took full advantage of the benign pitch here yesterday as he played a delightful innings of 183 to give his side the initiative. Gibbs acknowledged the batsmen-friendly conditions but, in an indirect criticism of the England attack, added: "You have to wait for the right ball to hit, but you can't help it if a few more than expected come along."

England's left-arm spinner, Ashley Giles, his side's most successful bowler thus far with two wickets, agreed that it was an easy-paced pitch but is convinced it will turn. "The wicket does suit spin, it grips a bit. I'm sure it's going to spin a little more," he said. And Gibbs, who was bowled by Giles, admitted: "I was out to the first ball that really turned."

But Giles bemoaned the standard of pitches in general. "The wickets we are producing for Test and Championship cricket are disappointing for a spinner," he said,making a heartfelt plea for more helpful pitches. "Something needs to be done or we will lose a lot of future England spinners because of the lack of assistance from wickets. We need to address it. When the ball does spin from ball one in Championship cricket the pitch gets reported."

However, Giles does not feel that England are out of this match. "You either get on with it, hold your hand up and try and do the job properly or you turn your back, walk away and do something else. It is tough, all of us get down for periods. South Africa have real quality in their batting and on a wicket like that they can take the game away. We have a lot to do to win this game but it's not out of the question; we need six wickets quickly and then we need to bat and bat well."

England considered resting either James Anderson or Andrew Flintoff from their attack for this match after what has proved a gruelling season. But Gibbs was less than sympathetic. "They are all fairly young so why should they suffer fatigue?" he asked.