England v South Africa: Graeme Smith shows faultless judgment to counter more poor tactics from bowlers A couple of play and misses resulted and the bowling was accurate but there was no success and Smith's normal service was soon resumed. England have tried this tactic before. It failed then too. What didn't help their cause was the ball refused to swing, either way. Perhaps hampered by patchy footholds Stuart Broad seemed generally below par, Tim Bresnan was honest, nothing more. Which made Graeme Swann England's best hope. He began straight away from the Vauxhall end in the morning and soon had an lbw appeal against Smith narrowly, but correctly rejected. Swann bowled a straight line from round the wicket and found some spin. But his pace was a fraction too slow and, after early uncertainty, Smith countered by sweeping or using his feet and drilling the ball wide of mid on or smothering the spin with his big reach. When Swann tossed the ball a fraction wider Smith's judgment of what to play and what to leave was faultless. The lack of bounce further hindered Swann's threat. So too did the excellence of Hashim Amla's method and his unshakeable concentration. He took guard to Swann on off stump and moved across as he bowled, getting well outside the line, removing the threat of lbw and avoiding the chance of being bowled through the gate driving against the spin. His defence against all the bowlers was impregnable. His bat resolutely straight. Infront of the Ken Barrington stand - the man whose batting ethos was "book in for bed and breakfast" - he decided to stay a second night. All of which means that, like in Cardiff in 2009, England's only remaining option may be survival. Their tailenders better get ready for some serious batting.