Tim de Lisle: Guide to victory: How England can beat South Africa in eight easy steps

They think it's all over... it isn't yet. England may have blown a good chance of a series win, but 2-2 remains within reach, which would be perfectly respectable against a side that is re-established as the second best in the world. Here's how England can do it.

1 If you get on top, stay on top:

When South Africa were 142 for 7 just after tea last Thursday, England were ahead in the series for the first time. Given the way Graeme Smith had dominated the first two Tests, they had got out of jail. Somehow they managed to put themselves straight back there, conceding another 200. When they batted, the same thing happened: a winning position, 160 for 1, dwindled to 309 all out. Things got so bad that Mike Atherton came out with a soundbite, 10 years after his first press conference as captain, when he said that English cricket had a culture of fear. It's up to the players to prove him wrong now. If they get on top at The Oval, they must stay there. Which means no going off for bad light unless their lives are in danger.

2 Pick the best available:

England's No 5 in this series has been Anthony McGrath or Ed Smith, neither of whom was in the selectors' plans in April. They have both averaged 17. It would be tough on Smith to send for Graham Thorpe now - but it would be tough on the rest of the team not to. Nuggety left-handers win matches. Look at how South Africa, who managed fine without Jacques Kallis and then Shaun Pollock, flopped when Gary Kirsten was missing at Trent Bridge. England may have a second vacancy, as Nasser Hussain is probably out with a broken toe. Happily, they can call on someone who made a hundred against Australia in his last home Test - at The Oval. Step forward, Mark Ramprakash. If his Test career has been sadly unfulfilled, well, so was Graham Gooch's at the same age (rising 34).

3 Know where your off stump is:

Never mind the light, Marcus Trescothick keeps making another howler: hanging his bat out at the ball angled across him and edging to slip. Duncan Fletcher has to tell him two things. One, he is now level in the world ratings with a Bangladeshi - Habibul Bashar (they are 27th equal). Two, he needs to play down the line of off stump, back towards the bowler, not towards mid-off.

4 Bowl a decent length:

Andrew Hall, South Africa's third all-rounder, said after his 99 not out: "We seemed to get a lot of really full balls and a lot of short balls, the two lengths we had discussed as easy opportunities to score from." Never underestimate the ability of cricketers to state the obvious: full and short are always the easiest lengths to score from. And never underestimate the ability of English bowlers to forget this.

5 Bat all day:

South Africa won at Headingley not because they bowled better than England - only Jacques Kallis did - but because Gary Kirsten batted for so long: 11 hours, five more than the next man (Mark Butcher). After Hussain's defiance at Trent Bridge, it was the second Test in a row to be settled by the bloody-minded durability of an old stager, which is another argument for Thorpe and Ramprakash.

6 Bring back Harmison:

Steve Harmison has wonky radar. But then so did Devon Malcolm, and he levelled a series with South Africa at The Oval. Harmison has figured in all four of England's wins this year. The mistake at Headingley was not to play five seamers, but to play five and leave out Harmison - without him, it was an attack of the clones, with Martin Bicknell and Kabir Ali duplicating each other. Kabir's was a debut too far, taking England's tally of seamers to an implausible 16 in the last 12 Tests. Harmison could have bounced out the tail, and maybe even Kirsten, whom he dismissed for one in the first Test.

7 Don't forget the glue:

Ashley Giles seldom takes a wicket in the northern hemisphere, but he has become an effective number eight, making sure Alec Stewart or Andrew Flintoff has some company. Bicknell, a useful county tail-ender, couldn't provide the same adhesive at Headingley. If Giles doesn't play, Robert Croft must; both should be in the squad. And Fletcher must tell Flintoff to collect a not-out (he never has, in five years of batting circa number seven), rather than throwing his wicket away as soon as the last man joins him. Assuming Hussain, Kirtley and Bicknell are unfit, the England team with the best chance of a face-saving win is this: Trescothick, Vaughan (capt), Butcher, Ramprakash, Thorpe, Flintoff, Stewart (wkt), Croft, Giles or Ormond, Johnson, Harmison. Bicknell should stay with the squad to tell them how to bowl at The Oval.

8 Be bold:

Vaughan deserves sympathy after being thrust into the job so suddenly, but he does need to captain more dynamically, with elastic fields and lateral bowling changes. His complaints about the county system are basically right: it is licensed mediocrity, still way too far below Test cricket in terms of pressure, attendances, media interest, pitch quality and intensity. But part of being captain is taking responsibility. Vaughan is showing signs that, like Atherton and Stewart, and unlike Hussain, he doesn't think captaincy is all that important. That way, further mediocrity lies. A captain doesn't just have to believe in himself, and his team: he has to believe in captaincy.

Tim de Lisle is editor of Wisden Cricketers' Almanack 2003. timdelisle62@hotmail.com