NICK HOWSON: South Africa must use the overhaul behind the scenes to rethink their selection policy, which could hurt them come the fourth test at The Wanderers
Simply the Bess. Bess in show. A man's Bess friend. The Bess of both worlds
The Somerset youngster does not deserve to be reduced to a catchy pun but, perhaps assisted by the Port Elizabeth drizzle, it is rather tough not to.
Bess is not England's most talented spinner. He isn't even the very best at Taunton, where he has played much of his recent county cricket.
But what is beyond doubt is that he is a grafter and a worker. He has spent the first half of the winter in Mumbai at a spin-bowling clinic, working on his art with Richard Dawson and former Sri Lanka mastercraftsman Ragana Herath. Joe Root has seen enough upon his return to give him a run in the team.
There is little doubt a move into the international ranks has changed Bess' outlook on spin-bowling, altering his seam position on tracks not yielding genuine turn and grip.
A maiden Test five-for for Dom Bess 👏#SAvENGpic.twitter.com/eg6FpU6ssZ
— The Cricketer (@TheCricketerMag) January 18, 2020
It is easy to forget that his call up into the squad was initially as cover for Jack Leach. Matt Parkinson was already on the trip, having also been selected for New Zealand, and seemingly ahead of him in the pecking order.
Bess has certainly reasserted himself in the eyes of the selectors now. After exerting control, if not threat, in Cape Town, he has been rewarded for that perseverance in Port Elizabeth.
History will at the very least serve Bess well. He is now England's third youngster spinner to take a Test five-for. Only Pat Pocock and Derek Underwood did it earlier.
In terms of away Tests, at 22 years and 180 days, he is the youngster since Eric Hollies against West Indies in 1935. He is now among some significant company.
Furthermore, Underwood is the last man to take the first five wickets in a Test innings, when he dismissed Australia's top seven in Adelaide in 1975.
Dom Bess is the first England spinner to take the first 5 wickets in a Test innings since Derek Underwood (who took the first 7) v Aus at Adelaide in 1975.
— Andrew Samson (@AWSStats) January 18, 2020
While this is not a pitch which is ragging square, it is also true that South Africa played Bess poorly. They were way too passive and played into the hands of Joe Root's close catchers - both figuratively and literally.
Where Bess stands after this series is uncertain. Leach remains the No.1 pick for club and country. Moeen Ali is waiting in the wings. Parkinson is eagerly awaiting his opportunity and is supremely talented. A trip to Sri Lanka is assured, but perhaps as much due to lack of alternative options as talent.
And come the start of the County Championship in April and May, when much of the red-ball season is being played, surfaces won't offer much if any turn. Somerset are likely to be particularly conservative given their points deduction for the surface against Essex and selecting two spinners is unlikely. Bess will be back where he started.
If he wants to be considered for the West Indies and Pakistan Tests this summer he must surely consider a move away. Out-of-contract at the end of 2020, a switch must come before that.
The toast of England for now, but the future is less certain.
Who thought it was a good idea to play cricket in mid-January?
A Test match, two Under-19 World Cup games and a Big Bash League clash were all affected by inclement conditions on Saturday. That's five major matches across two continents, not to mention others.
It meant that Sky were forced to ask Nasser Hussain whether Makhaya Ntini is the loudest man he'd ever met. You have to sympathise for them in such situations, forced to fill time with no guarantee over when the game will resume.
They could have done another Rabada-like controversy.
There is much to be admired about the broadcaster's coverage, not least the background image used in their Isleworth studio, which included a resplendent photo of St George's Park decked in sunshine. Wishful thinking as the covers came on, off, and then off again.
It would, of course, be completely ignorant to totally criticise the schedule. Summer rainfall is not unknown in either South Africa or Australia, and for it to occur on the same day is a bit of an anomaly.
But it does firmly undermine the sport. Sky and BT Sport had all three events across each format locked down over the weekend, but the casual viewer could only assess benign chats, umbrellas and rain covers. It is a terrible, yet unavoidable, advert for a sport struggling to grow its audience.
More than 30 overs have been lost in the match due to inclement weather or bad light
"The word quota cannot be used," Makhaya Ntini told Sky Sports. "Then when you are selected you are given the same power.
"That word 'quota' on its own is sensitive, it gives you a question mark on everything you are achieving.
"It's almost like you have done absolutely nothing. You can take a five-for but that is nothing. You haven't achieved anything yet. The quota name hit me hard."
Kagiso Rabada's absence for the fourth Test at The Wanderers has created another problem for South Africa and captain Faf du Plessis.
While the quota selection regulation provides representation for South Africa's black community, it also means the team have to operate within certain constraints.
Rabada's ban means they will be without their only black African in the current Test team. The current rules say they must average two over a season, with six players of colour in the team. They are short of both targets, as things stand.
Temba Bavuma is almost certain to be recalled for Johannesburg. Though impressive, his career-best 180 in the four-day competition this week is pretty irrelevant. His selection is now necessary given Rabada's plight.
Ntini was South Africa's first black international but he says the regulations are making little difference, particularly due to the lack of coaching in more rural areas.
Amid the overhaul of South African cricket behind the scenes, the rules must be attended to as a matter of urgency, and formed in a way that doesn't hold the team back but respects the country's history.
It is a tough balance to strike.
Makhaya Ntini wants a re-think with regard to South Africa's selection policy
The role of the nightwatchman is one of the more curious phenomena in elite sport. The rationale is obvious, but the long-term benefits are often hard to see.
Anrich Nortje made a mockery of those concerns with the perfect rearguard on day three. Such is South Africa's position in this match, they are essentially already batting to the save it. Much like they did in Cape Town, they finally showed some resistance when all looked lost.
Just four Tests into his career, Nortje played to the situation perfectly, something so few players find themselves capable of.
His longest previous first-class innings had been at Centurion when he kept England out for 89 balls across more than two hours.
This was an altogether more heroic effort which has the hosts dreaming of a stalemate, partly because of the weather which is due over the next two days.
STAT ALERT: Anrich Nortje out for 18 off 136. At a strike rate of 13.2/100 balls, that is the slowest ever first-innings knock of 110 or more balls.https://t.co/g6C4FP0tN7#SAvENG
— Andy Zaltzman (@ZaltzCricket) January 18, 2020
Over more than three hours he fended England off, jumping and poking at the ball like a child trying to see off a spider. Mark Wood, Sam Curran, Ben Stokes, Dom Bess, Joe Root, Joe Denly and Stuart Broad came at him, and he very nearly saw each and each one off.
It was a truly impressive innings, made all the better by the truncated nature of it. The scorecard will tell you that it lasted 191 minutes, with 136 balls, but the reality is it stretched over a much longer period.
Having first been asked to cover for Du Plessis on the second evening, rain on day three rain meant there were at times hours between deliveries. For a player still relatively new to this format of the sport and with an average of 11.20, the way in which he kept his concentration was remarkable.
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