England rediscover their optimism

After scraping the depths of despair at Lord's, a stirring display on a helpful Trent Bridge track has breathed life back into England's cricketers, who now go to Headingley for the fourth npower Test against South Africa with the series delicately poised at 1-1.

A packed crowd awaits them, anticipating an action-packed thriller like the last Test, and it's a good bet that Headingley will provide one. Since 1980, there have been only two drawn Tests there. One was a rain-affected game with Pakistan in 1996 and the other against South Africa in 1994. South Africa haven't won a Test at Headingley in ten attempts, although they came close in 1998 when they failed to knock off the 34 runs required on the fourth morning, but Graeme Smith isn't one for omens.

What will be more worrying for Smith is the absence of Shaun Pollock, who has flown home for the birth of his first child. Smith hasn't been sleeping much on this tour and the absence of his leading bowler is sure to keep him counting sheep. Pollock took 6 for 39 in the last Test and threatened to turn the game, and the series, in South Africa's favour. "Shaun's a world-class player," Smith said, "but for the first two Tests we missed Jacques Kallis. Now someone else has got to take responsibility." Pollock's stand-in is certain to be Dewald Pretorius. He impressed with four wickets at Edgbaston, but he, like Makhaya Ntini and Andrew Hall, is no Pollock.

Gary Kirsten has recovered from an elbow injury and will replace either Jacques Rudolph (15 and 0 at Nottingham) or Boeta Dippenaar (0 and 1). Neil McKenzie is sure to keep his spot at No. 6 after his rescuing stand with Mark Boucher. England, meanwhile, are waiting on the fitness of Steve Harmison, who yesterday had painkilling injections for a calf injury. If he does not recover, they have a choice of the forgotten man, Martin Bicknell, or the new upstart, Kabir Ali.

Bicknell made his debut 10 years ago against Australia, at Headingley. It didn't go well. He struggled through 50 overs and took 1 for 155 as England went down by an innings and plenty. He played only one more Test after that and if he is selected for his third cap tomorrow, he is under no illusions it will be a similar story. "There are a lot of good cricketers out there, younger and fitter than me, and I know there are a lot of injuries and that is why I have got my chance," Bicknell said. "It could just be a one-off Test and I am under no illusions at all, I am fully prepared for anything."

It has been a while since England last adopted their horses-for-courses policy at Headingley, but it is one that has served them well in the past. Neil Mallender, Steve Watkin and Derek Pringle are just a handful of the old pros who have been wheeled out to exploit its uniquely seam-friendly conditions, and Bicknell would be a worthy successor to the tradition. As he himself said, he will let nobody down.

Kabir, who has taken two eight-wicket hauls for Worcestershire this season, is another whose international debut at Headingley was not everything that it might have been. He was selected for the fourth match of this year's NatWest Series, against Zimbabwe, but the game was washed out after 16 overs of England's innings and hence Kabir didn't get a sniff of action. Bicknell's reliable accuracy and handy lower-order batting may push him ahead in the pecking order, but there could be a spot for both of them if Ashley Giles is left out and England play five seamers.

The Headingley ticket office has been bombarded with phone calls leading up to the Test and the first three days are sold out. There have also been 500 bookings made on the internet. Who says that Headingley and Yorkshiremen are behind the times?