If ever five-day Test cricket needed a boost, it was now, in the midst of calls for cricket's ultimate challenge to be reduced to four days, and England's thrilling victory in Cape Town served as another powerful and beautiful reminder of just what we would be missing should the ICC decide to tinker with the purest form of the game.

While I won't use these words to debate that particular subject, the prospect of another flat and slow pitch in Port Elizabeth suggests the bowlers might have to work hard for their wickets again once the new ball has been negotiated.

The fact James Anderson was able to claim match figures of 37-15-63-7 in Cape Town was more a reflection of his wonderful skills and metronomic accuracy rather than any assistance he received from the Kookaburra ball or a disappointingly docile Newlands surface.

The rib injury Anderson picked up at the end of that match means his series is now over and while his absence is a big blow to the tourists, this will the seventh time in England's last 11 Test matches since the beginning of last summer that Joe Root will have to led his side out without his premier strike bowler in tow.

England are slowly getting used to life without Anderson and are still marginal favourites to prevail in the third Test, Sri Lanka's eight-wicket victory and comfortable second-innings run chase at the same venue a year ago sure to give the tourists confidence and also offer a pointer to the fact that there should be runs in this surface if the batsmen are able to occupy the crease in the same way Dom Sibley and Pieter Malan did in Cape Town.

With that in mind, I'm not too surprised to see nibbles of money for the draw at the time of writing but South Africa haven't drawn a Test match since March 2017, when playing out a stalemate with New Zealand in Hamilton, and their inexperienced batting line-up but strong bowling attack should ensure they remain something of an all-or-nothing outfit.

With Jofra Archer expected to return for England, they will hope they have enough pace in their armoury to negate the expected sluggish surface and as was the case last week, getting first-innings runs on the board could be the key to dictating terms once again.