It was the first drawn Test match here since 1980, and the first draw since 1968 that was not caused either by bad weather, or by late-night intruders vandalising the pitch.The latter took place as a clandestine, wall-scaling operation, and ruined a gripping game, but as far as this pitch goes, there ought to be a complimentary pass at the main gates for anyone with a day off and a Rotavator. The ball hobbled through at negligible pace and varying heights, and the few periods of flashing strokeplay were almost entirely the result of sub-standard bowling.South Africa found it relatively straightforward to bat out time after being asked to make 298 in the final two sessions, and will be pleased enough at preserving their 1-0 series lead with only the Oval Test to come. The TCCB treasurer will also be a happy man this morning (counting record receipts of pounds 1,098,000 at a notoriously sluggish venue for ticket sales) as will Graeme Hick, who made his first Test century in this country, and only his second in 28 Tests.Hick, 48 not out overnight, is probably as puzzled as everyone else as to why he has been such a braces-bursting run-gorger in first-class cricket, where he has made 74 other three-figure scores, but a near anorexic when it comes to tucking in at Test level.Raymond Illingworth had a long talk with him at the start of the summer, and as the England chairman is not the molly-coddling type, the speech may not so much have been along the lines of: ‘keep going lad, we know you can do it. .’ as ‘pull your finger out, son, or you’re on your bike’.Whatever, Hick has adopted a visibly more positive approach since returning from the West Indies, and while reservations still remain – yesterday’s effort was against bowling designed to contain rather than get him out, and with Allan Donald injured – Hick is now looking the part, rather than a spare one.Some of his strokeplay yesterday was of the highest class, in particular a pick-up for six over square leg off Craig Matthews.

England attacked boldly enough to make sufficient runs yesterday morning (124) for a lunchtime declaration, and Hick’s personal acceleration was reflected in his 139- ball half-century, and only 53 more balls for his final 60 runs.Hick took over as senior partner once the ebullient Graham Thorpe had been run out (following TV replay evidence) attempting to scamper a leg bye, and Alec Stewart (36 not out off 37 balls) was again in vintage form. Stewart found himself in something of a ridiculous position in this game, as the only way he could ‘prove the selectors wrong’ (as Mike Atherton put it) in shoving him down to No 5 was by not scoring any runs.However, ridiculous is probably too kind a word for what happened to John Crawley after Hick, three minutes before lunch, pre-selected a near yorker from Brian McMillan and was lbw swinging across the line. If Atherton wanted a few more violent blows before declaring, Phillip DeFreitas should have been promoted. Crawley’s dismissal for 0, caught at deep backward square leg, would yesterday have been recognised as nobly dying for the cause, but sometime in the future it is the sort of thing that tends to get forgotten when selectors are examining Test-match averages.South Africa were never serious about attempting to make the runs, neither was there a serious prospect of an England victory once the tourists had made it through to tea for the loss of only one wicket. Andrew Hudson was caught and bowled by Philip Tufnell for 12, his highest score in the series, and may not be given the chance to improve upon it.Gary Kirsten and Hansie Cronje had enough narrow squeaks to keep England interested, and had the bowling been as accurate on Sunday morning as it was yesterday afternoon, England would probably have won. However, even though Kirsten was given out caught behind off DeFreitas and Kepler Wessels was bowled out of the footholds by Tufnell, Atherton called it off with six overs remaining.(Final day; England won toss)ENGLAND – First Innings 477 for 9 dec (M A Atherton 99, A J Stewart 89, G P Thorpe 72, S J Rhodes 65no).SOUTH AFRICA – First Innings 447 (P N Kisrsten 104, B M McMilan 78, C R Matthews 62no; P A J DeFreitas 4-89)ENGLAND – Second Innings(Overnight: 144 for 2)G A Hick lbw b McMillan.

110 (270 min, 192 ball, 9 fours, 3 sixes) G P Thorpe run out (Richardson) .73 (173 min, 125 balls, 10 fours) A J Stewart not out. .36 (65 min, 37 balls, 6 fours) J P Crawley c Cronje b McMillan 0 (2 min, 2 balls) Extras (lb1 nb3) .4 Total (for 5 dec, 340 min, 78.3 overs). .267Fall: 3-190 (Thorpe), 4-267 (Hick), 5-267 (Crawley).Bowling: De Villiers 25-3-98-1 (nb3) (3-0-10- 0, 7-2-10-1, 5-0-17-0, 10-1-61-0); McMillan 15.3- 0-66-2 (nb1) (3-0-15-0, 5-0-22-0, 3-0-10-0, 4.3- 0-19-2); Matthews 24-8-53-1 (10-6-12-1, 7-1-15- 0, 7-1-26-0); G Kirsten 2-1-10-0 (one spell); Cronje 12-3-39-0 (7-2-17-0, 3-1-6-0 2-0-16-0).Progress: Fifth day: 150: 236 min, 58.1 overs 200: 290 min, 68.1 overs 250: 327 min, 76 overs. Declaration at lunchtime.Thorpe’s 50: 115 min, 81 balls, 7 fours.Hick’s 50: 171 min, 139 balls, 4 fours, 1 six. 100: 259 min, 184 balls, 9 fours, 2 sixes.SOUTH AFRICA – Second InningsG Kirsten c Rhodes b DeFreitas. 65 (155 min, 128 balls, 11 fours) A C Hudson c and b Tufnell 12 (82 min, 66 balls) W J Cronje not out 13 (134 min, 124 balls) *K C Wessels b Tufnell .7 (31 min, 20 balls, 1 four) P N Kirsten not out 8 (29 min, 31 balls, 2 fours) Extras (b2 lb2 nb7) .11 Total (for 3, 217 min, 60 overs). .116Fall: 1-43 (Hudson), 2-93 (G Kirsten), 3-104 (Wessels).Bowling: DeFreitas 14-3-41-1 (nb7) (7-2-22-0, 7-1-19-1); Gough 10-5-15-0 (4-2-7-0, 6-3-8-0); Tufnell 23-8-31-2 (nb1) (9-4-6-1, 3-0-10-0); Fraser 7-2-19-0; Hick 6-3-6-0 (one spell each).Progress (final day): 50: 100 min, 26.1 overs Tea: 68-1 (G Kirsten 44, Cronje 5) 34 overs 100: 167 min, 45.3 overs.

Match called off at 5.33pm after nine of the 15 overs available in the final hour.G Kirsten’s 50: 134 min, 110 balls, 9 fours.Umpires: S R Dunne and D R Shepherd.TV Replay umpire: J C Balderstone.Match Referee: P J P Burge.Man of the match: P N Kirsten.Adjudicator: R D Jackman.Glenn Moore, Henry Blofeld, County cricket, page 30. BRITAIN’S European Championships started to go to plan last night as Linford Christie equalled Valery Borzov’s record of three consecutive 100 metres titles in this event with a performance of disdainful power. That, and Steve Backley’s unexpected achievement of retaining the javelin title he won four years ago in Split, amounted to a welcome lift for a team that has had to come to terms in consecutive days with Solomon Wariso’s expulsion following a positive drug test and the withdrawal with injury of the 200 metres favourite John Regis.
Christie’s victory, in 10.14sec, was hardly a surprise given his demonstration on Sunday that he had recovered from the hamstring injury which had hampered his preparations. Geir Moen, of Norway, gave him a run for his money to finish in second place in 10.20, with Russia’s Alexander Porkhomovsky taking the bronze in 10.31.As Christie strolled over to the British supporters afterwards, he seemed satisfied rather than delighted.’It was good,’ Christie said ‘But I’m disappointed by the time I have the championship, which is all that really matters. I don’t put pressure on myself, I let the others take the pressure I just go out there and run the best I know how to. Once I knew I was over the injury, no one was going to beat me.’He seemed more excited afterwards for Backley than for himself. ‘I was watching every one of Steve’s throws and to see him win was fantastic He can be the best in the world for years if he wants to be.

It was a fantastic boost to see him win.’It was a fantastic boost for Backley, too. ‘If I walked away now nobody would really be bothered,’ he said, referring to the way his event was generally regarded outside Finland. ‘So to compete in a stadium where everybody is bothered about every throw and to produce the goods under pressure is a dream come true.’Having seen that, Christie told himslef that he,too, had to win gold when he walked to the blocks 20 minutes later.Before the start, he stared down the line with the kind of concentration he had summoned before the Olympic final two years ago. There was not a flicker as his name was announced; he looked like an Easter Island statue.There was a false start Then another, this time from Christie He acknowledged the fact with a magisterial arm in the air Again the gun went, again the recall gun sounded. This time it was the Ukrainian, Oleg Kramarenko.Finally they got away.