He saw his side lose their fourth successive home game with George Boateng and Ian Taylor giving Aston Villa a 2-0

He saw his side lose their fourth successive home game, with George Boateng and Ian Taylor giving Aston Villa a 2-0 victory.Liverpool are unbeaten in five visits to St James’ Park after their 2- 2 draw with Newcastle, who went in front when Alan Shearer touched in Nolberto Solano’s free-kick. Peter Atherton scored the first- half goal that sealed the points. Don Hutchison scored twice and Francis Jeffers once as they went 3-0 up at the break, with Mark Pembridge and Kevin Campbell wrapping things up.After seeing his Sheffield Wednesday side secure their second league victory of the season, 1-0 over Middlesbrough, Danny Wilson will be hoping for a new beginning for the Owls, too. When the United manager, Sir Alex Ferguson, made a double substitution, sending on Dwight Yorke and Andy Cole, the game changed and Quinton Fortune, Yorke, Cole and Roy Keane rattled in the goals that gave United a 4-0 victory.Everton went one better, making Peter Reid’s return to Goodison Park, as Sunderland’s manager, a nightmare. A new owner for Everton, Bill Kenwright, and a two-year contract extension for their manager, Walter Smith, brought a new start. The squandering of several second-half chances put paid to that idea.
Bradford City were aided by the wind, the rain and the dreadful playing surface at Old Trafford in holding Manchester United for 75 minutes of their first visit in 64 years. Admittedly youthful impetuosity in front of goal did prevent them from capitalising fully on a fightback, led by Lee Bowyer, that at times had Martin O’Neill’s side looking ragged.

Bowyer dummied Harry Kewell’s in the build-up as Michael Bridges equalised Tony Cottee’s opener and, after Bowyer had put Leeds ahead on the stroke of half-time, a runaway victory looked likely. Yesterday’s home match against Leicester City provided them with an opportunity to reveal mental fragility but, after falling behind, they knuckled down to emerge as 2-1 winners. BEING YOUNG and naive does not seem to be doing Leeds United much harm as they look down from the summit of the Premiership at the halfway stage of the season and there is no sign of them blowing up. Bad light stopped play at 4.31pm.Hussain: 50: 282 min, 213 balls, 5 fours.SOUTH AFRICA: G Kirsten, H H Gibbs, J H Kallis, D J Cullinan, *W J Cronje, L Klusener, S M Pollock, M V Boucher, A A Donald, M Hayward, P R Adams.Umpires: D B Cowie (NZ) and D L Orchard (SA).TV replay umpire: W A Diedricks.Match referee: B N Jarman..

So far, he and the selectors may have to wait awhile longer for the local ire, inflamed by England’s go-slow, to subside.More cricket, page 11SCOREBOARDFirst day; England won tossENGLAND – First inningsM A Butcher c Klusener b Adams 48195 min, 160 balls, 4 foursM A Atherton b Hayward 135 min, 20 balls*N Hussain not out 51297 min, 218 balls, 5 foursD L Maddy not out 24137 min, 113 balls, 3 foursExtras (lb9,w2) 11Total (for 2, 333min, 85.1 overs) 135Fall: 1-7 (Atherton), 2-82 (Butcher).To bat: A J Stewart, C J Adams, A Flintoff, A R Caddick, D Gough, C E W Silverwood, P C R Tufnell.Bowling: Donald 7-3-7-0 (4-1-4-0, 3-2-3-0); Pollock 18.1-8-24-0 (6-3- 8-0, 6-1-14-0, 4-3-1-0, 2.1-1-1-0); Hayward 13-3-34-1 (w2) (5-1-14-1, 5-2-11-0, 3-0-9-0); Kallis 11-6-12-0 (3-2-4-0, 3-2-1-0, 5-2-7-0); Klusener 14-4-23-0 (4-2-5-0, 5-1-6-0, 5-1-12-0); Adams 22-10-26-1 (2-1-1-0, 20- 9-25-1).Progress: Lunch: 44 for 1 (Butcher 24, Hussain 15) 30 overs 50: 125 min, 30.4 overs Tea: 98 for 2 (Hussain 36, Maddy 7) 63 overs 100: 256 min, 67 overs. The two best chances came off Adams, who finished with 1 for 26 from 22 overs.If Daryll Cullinan at slip and Mark Boucher, the keeper, could catch, Adams’ selection, in place of the local hero Jonty Rhodes, might have been justified. Like Hussain, he allowed himself to get bogged down against Adams and it was batsman error rather than bowler nous that saw him cut a long-hop to Klusener at backward point, two runs short of his half-century.That brought in Maddy, who owed his place to the injured Vaughan. A nervous starter, Maddy should have been out three times before he reached seven. On that occasion he had 107 more runs to his name and fatigue had perhaps set in.With Atherton gone, Hussain decided to play the anchor and the dashing sword, with which he counter-attacked so brilliantly in the first innings at Port Elizabeth, was sheathed here.Against Paul Adams he offered little except the odd sweep, a caution his coach Duncan Fletcher put down to Adams’ exceptional bowling and Hussain’s relative lack of experience at facing such an unusual action.His captain’s strokelessness made Butcher, himself circumspect after being dropped by Adams off Allan Donald’s second ball of the match, look hyperactive by comparison.With scores of 1, 32, 4 and 1, in the series so far, Butcher needed a score and, riding his luck – he also sliced a cut shot off Lance Klusener between second and third slip – he almost got one. On this occasion Atherton had not managed to close the gap between body and bat and the inside edge from a short ball cannoned off his thigh on to the stumps.It was a carbon copy of his dismissal in the previous Test in Port Elizabeth to the same bowler. If a strokemaker like Hussain cannot get the rate above 1.6 runs per over, what hope for the real blockers?Atherton was out in the ninth over of the day, to the fifth ball of Nantie Hayward’s first over.

A strong bowler, Hayward possesses a skiddy pace and the ball often gets to the batsmen before everything is where it should be. If there was a consolation, it was that Atherton was out early on and Michael Vaughan, having failed to recover from his bruised finger, did not play. Unfortunately their obsession for occupation quickly turned to sedation for the 15,500 spectators – the best opening day crowd here since their readmission to the international stage in 1991 – looking to overcome the excesses and lassitude brought on by Christmas day.If what England had could be bottled, there would be no need for Mogadon and, by the time bad light intervened at 4.30pm, those that had not felt compelled to boo had probably nodded off.Even students of the game, as opposed to those merely along for a laugh, would have balked at the slowness of it all. Surprisingly, for those used to rapid progress of recent England Test matches, this was not even in the top five slowest days, a record headed by Australia and Pakistan in 1956.That match, played in Karachi, probably took place on matting and accounts not only for the slowest day, 95 runs for 12 wickets in five and a half hours play, but another two of the top five.With Durban sweltering in the sun (90 degrees with about the same percentage humidity), it looked a good toss to win for England. At their present rate, that particular milestone looks as if it will take them at least a day longer.After all the rain and doubt surrounding this match at Kingsmead, a day in the sun was an unexpected bonus – or at least it was until England opted to bat first. As it is, a clatter of wickets this morning and England could yet find themselves in real trouble.There were reasons for the crawl, such as a turgid pitch and the highly disciplined and defensive nature of the South African bowling, but England can only be satisfied, and ultimately justified, by their lack of progress, if they have reached 400 by close of play today. What is certain is that he did not test the laws of inertia entirely on his own, and only Mark Butcher, who made 48 from 160 balls, could be said to have occasionally risen above the pedestrian.On a day where attrition seemed to be on the menu right from the start, England lost just Butcher and Michael Atherton, though with the Surrey left-hander dropped on nought off his second ball, and three other catches spilled, it could have been much worse.Such means may eventually justify the ends, but if you are only two wickets down after 85.1 overs, and Allan Donald has only bowled seven of them on account of a dicky tummy, you expect to be in control of the match.