If I were to say that the Johannesburg Test was one of the greatest Test matches ever, I'm not sure too many people could quibble.

Yes, it lacked the presence of a top quality spinner, a wrist spinner even, but apart from that, it had everything - top notch batting on both sides, some marvellous bowling (as well as some ordinary stuff too), injuries, controversy, tension throughout and then the final denouement from Matthew Hoggard, an unsung hero if ever there was one.

I like Hoggard. He is my type of guy- quiet, hard working, unassuming; he just gets on with his job. And the crucial thing is that he stepped up to the plate when England needed him most.

Steve Harmison is still having a shocker of a tour, compounded now by a calf injury (why do injuries mostly occur when things are going badly for an individual?), a shadow of the man who burst to the top of the international rankings last year.

His situation is so serious now that it begs the question of whether that form was a flash in the pan, a one-off high which will be replaced by the frustrating mediocrity - albeit with tons of promise - which we saw before and which we are sadly seeing again now. I do hope that is not the case, but Harmison has much proving to do now.

England also took a gamble by including James Anderson instead of Simon Jones. In these pages last week I pleaded with them not to, but the rumour mill was right, although there was a quirky twist to that story as Jones suffered a back spasm a couple of days before the Test and might not have been able to play anyway.

But it seems the selectors had already decided on Anderson. At times I cringed for the Lancastrian, so poorly did he bowl.

Geraint Jones had a very ordinary match all round, but he will not be thanking Anderson for the numerous amount of wide deliveries he sent down, some of which were ridiculously not given as wides by umpire Steve Bucknor, who also had an awful match in all respects. Most of the decisions he gave were wrong and the bad light fiasco which resulted in Michael Vaughan being fined was shameful.

Andrew Flintoff gave Hoggard valiant support, but it now seems he is paying the price with an ankle injury, which will probably require surgery. At least it seems he will be able to make it through the last Test starting tomorrow.

I suspected there was something wrong with Flintoff when Kevin Pietersen was last week called up for the one-day squad. That was an unusual step to take without another player struggling with injury.

And so it has proved. Flintoff will go home for the one-day series and Pietersen will play in his native country. That could be interesting, especially recalling how Clyde Rathbone, the former South African Under-21 winger now playing for Australia because of his grandmother's nationality, was treated when he returned 'home' for the Tri Nations rugby series.

A mention, too, for Marcus Trescothick and his magnificent 180 in the second innings. That is the Trescothick we know and love, the Trescothick who so often broke my heart as Glamorgan captain when we had no idea how to bowl at him or where to set a field.

When he bats like that he makes the game look so uncomplicated, with a free swing of the bat and a marvellously sharp eye. Yes, he doesn't move his feet too much but if his balance is right then he can play - his Test record shows that, because anyone who can average over 40 in Test cricket (something Mike Atherton never managed, remember) over a longish period deserves to be classed a very good Test player.

Quite where Andrew Strauss is going to end up in the pantheon of Test opening batsmen is anyone's guess.

At the moment he could become one of the all-time greats given his remarkable start in Test cricket. He came back down to earth with a second innings duck but his first innings hundred (and highest Test score) was another superb effort.

Coach Duncan Fletcher has said Strauss is not the best technically (while praising his incredible temperament and concentration) but I am still trying to work out where he is susceptible. So are the South Africans.

The one fault, if you can call it that, I can spot is he moves a long way across his stumps before the ball is bowled, which could lead to problems if he is in a bad run, with lbw a strong possibility.

But for now he must keep things going, as must England, who would love a last Test victory to make it 3-1 in the series - not far away from my 4-0 prediction.