• Options galore for AB

    If South Africa decide to go with four seamers at the Wanderers, Hardus Viljoen would be my choice.

    South Africa have so many options. They can bring back JP Duminy, who scored big runs for the Cobras over the weekend, for another batsman or they could leave out Dane Piedt for a fourth seamer.

    If they want raw pace they will go with Viljoen but if they want someone who can bowl a consistent line and length then Abbott is the man.

    If I were captain I would have liked to go with a specialist spinner, but it is worth going with four seamers at the Wanderers.

    AB de Villiers likes the X-factor and thinks outside the box so Viljoen might be the guy, but it’s difficult to know exactly how the pitch will play over five days. I do, however, agree that there will almost certainly be a result in this game.

    Duminy’s double hundred for the Cobras puts an interesting spin on things. He is clearly in form but there is a massive difference between domestic and international cricket. Players sometimes say that going back to franchise cricket is like having a really good net session, but JP still batted for more than a day so he did well.

    Having said that, I went to Paarl to watch some of the match and if you think the Newlands pitch for the second Test was flat, the surface in Paarl was twice that. It will also be difficult to drop one of the current middle order batsmen as all of them scored runs in Cape Town.

    England are 1-0 up in the series but they know they can’t just sit back; they must make a play. South Africa can’t allow them to dominate.

    As usual runs on the board will put pressure on the opposition but the bowlers will have to be consistent.

    England’s confidence was dented in the last three days of the previous Test so it will be interesting to see how they respond in the first two days at the Wanderers. They have a better bowling attack than South Africa, but the Proteas might have the edge in terms of pace, especially if Viljoen plays.