Crystal ball gazing again, I'm afraid, as I write this article on Wednesday, even though I don't have to be Mystic Meg to predict that my 4-0 series call is dead in the water.

England, in general, have not played well this week in Cape Town and, as ever, there were any number of interesting talking points.

Firstly, I thought that Graeme Smith had a much better match as skipper of South Africa. It was obvious that either he or, more likely, members of his back-up team had been scrutinising videos of the English batsmen and, as a result, he came up with some innovative field placings.

I especially liked the theory to the left-handed Graham Thorpe with three close fielders on the leg side, preying on his propensity to fall over. It was rewarded in the first innings when Thorpe clipped a ball to square leg.

Also, the pin-point positioning of a man on the drive on the off side for Marcus Trescothick in the second innings which resulted in his early dismissal. That was clever too.

However, there were other times when Smith seemed devoid of ideas and I did not agree with his decision not to enforce the follow on. Of course, if South Africa have won by the time you read this then he will be vindicated, but my policy has always been to make the opposition follow on, with only one proviso - if it has taken so long to bowl them out once that your own bowlers are absolutely knackered, then bat again.

But otherwise get them back in there again, because that is what the opposition batsmen will want least. Maybe it is me being biased as a former opening batsman, but I never wanted to be asked to follow on. There was always a feeling of helplessness and futility about going out to bat when following on.

Yes, I know the odd game has been won by a side following on - Hampshire against Glamorgan at the Rose Bowl in 2003 springs to mind - but generally you are out of the game and that is not a nice feeling.

Having said all that, I was not surprised that Smith acted as he did. That is the South African mentality. They are generally defensive (there were times when you would have thought England were chasing 201, not 501, to win, such were the lack of close fielders) and want to make the game safe before they go for the throat. Which brings me on to Jacques Kallis.

This comment may bring some reaction, but I have got to say that I have become increasingly frustrated watching Kallis bat in this series, not because England can't seem to get him out, but rather with his defensive approach. It may seem churlish to be criticising someone who has scored so many runs as Kallis has in the past year, but his method is annoying me because it does not need to be so. Kallis has every shot in the book.

He is no restricted player like I most certainly was, who has to be ruled by the limitations of his technique. He is just far too circumspect and careful, no better illustrated than by the final hour or so of the third day when he and Boeta Dippenaar played some appaling cricket, playing for the close when they should have been getting on with it to ensure an earlier declaration on the fourth morning.

I don't think Kallis has any weakness in his technique and that would seem to be borne out by the fact that England, even with Kallis' teenage coach and mentor Duncan Fletcher as their coach, do not seem to have any specific plan to get him out. Except, maybe, to run him out as they did in the second innings, but that is a pretty desperate measure - the cry of "bowl for run outs" only usually goes up in the most dire of situations.

Anyway, finally a mention of my prediction last week that England would wrap it up on the last day at Durban. They should have done.

They bowled poorly though, bowling far too wide when the situation (on a pitch of variable bounce) cried out for aiming at the stumps and putting the batsmen under constant pressure. However, I did think that Michael Vaughan should have been allowed to bowl spin at the end when the umpires hastily offered the light.

Usually umpires have a quiet word with the skipper just to let him know - that is what always happened when I was a county captain - and I was amazed that didn't happen even though there are very different rules in this series with the provision of floodlights.

I don't think it would have taken long to take the last two wickets after the crucial scalp of Shaun Pollock had been gained - by a superbly cool throw from Simon Jones who, incidentally, is now being called 'Muscleman' on the field by the South Africans.

England - and deluded pundits like myself - are now finding out that there will be a lot more work than first thought to win this series.