It is hard to believe that for two tests South Africa dominated England, but still find themselves 1 - 0 down in the 4 match series with one to play. Many feel the declaration timing on both occasions was a little late, while many are pointing fingers at the South African bowling attack.
My personal take is that there was nothing wrong with the timing of the declaration and that the problem lies in the bowling attack and the lack of a wicket taking spinner. I think Paul Harris is a super bowler, but he does not turn the ball enough to be effective at test level. "Harry" is a professional and wears his heart on his sleeve, but he does not a "flipper" or a "doosra" that potential could unsettle the world's top batters. I understand that he is a finger spinner and that having deliveries like that in his armoury is not always possible, but the fact of the matter is that JP Duminy turns the ball a lot further than the Titans spinner.
I think the selectors could go two ways for the future, either develop Duminy into a top spinner that bats in the middle order so that you can slot in another batsman or anther spinner like Johan Botha in the place of Harris. The other option is turning (if you'll excuse the pun) to Imran Tahir, the former Pakistan A and Middlesex, Easterns and Titans leg spinner who has recently qualified to play for South Africa. Get him in the mix and tell him to bowl millions of overs, he is a wicket taker despite lacking form at the moment and will produce the goods or at least provide Graeme Smith with a wicket taking option, please just sort out his paperwork! Then you have Duminy from one end and Tahir from the other, it will add some much needed variation to the attack. Nice to know there are options out there, now it is up to the National selectors to give the right guys the opportunities to prove their worth.