Alastair Cook: 7 Consistent, and still a big part of England's future but will be frustrated that he can't get rid of the "60 man" tag. He knows that hundreds win matches.

Michael Vaughan: 6 Led England in his normal calm and assured manner and in my opinion should have carried on to the end of the series. His batting sadly has lacked authority and purpose, but if he can find the style he showed as an opener when he started with England, he could regain top spot in India.

Ian Bell: 7 Out of the blocks early with a superb 199 at HQ, needs to add presence to his game if he's to be a dominant player at first wicket down.

Kevin Pietersen: 9 Big on numbers and style, hopefully the captaincy will help and not hinder him.

Paul Collingwood: 6 Possibly saved his Test career with a fighting hundred at Edgbaston, good guy to have in the side and if you were judging on character he'd be a 10 out of 10.

Andrew Flintoff: 7 England are a more formidable unit with him in the side, adds menace and presence to the bowling attack. Still needs to improve his footwork with the bat and learn to mix defence with attack.

Tim Ambrose: 5 Tidy with his glove work throughout the series but I'm unconvinced by his batting technique off the front foot at Test level.

Stuart Broad: 6 Improved in final Test, but his bowling still needs work. A chip off the old block with the willow, should progress to be a genuine all-rounder for his country.

Steve Harmison: 8 Impressive on his return, would like to carry the pitch used at The Oval around in his bag.

James Anderson: 7 Continues to improve his consistency having been given the responsibility of taking the new ball. Increasingly will become a match-winner for England.

Monty Panesar: 6 Still to learn the value of variation at the highest level. As for his appealing, less please.

Ryan Sidebottom: 6 Played two Tests. A willing performer but looks weary after heavy recent workload.

Darren Pattinson: 5 Like the famous Three Degrees song of 1974, it's a case of "When Will I See You Again?" - but not his fault that England's batting failed at Headingley.

South Africa batted well in their first innings - which included brilliant centuries from AB de Villiers and Ashwell Prince - a feat none of England's batsmen could manage. More on that later.

In some ways the return of Andrew Fintoff for this Test threw up more questions than answers.

Here England went with five bowlers to accomodate Freddie, and it meant the batting line-up was unbalanced with Tim Ambrose batting at six, which in my opinion is two places too high for a batsman of his ability.

The result was that England started the match with five specialist batsmen and ultimately they paid for that decision.

Freddie's return is great news for England, but the selectors will have to think carefully about how they approach the next two Tests.

Stuart Broad's impressive second innings knock of 67 showed what was possible batting on this strip at number eight, and his technique compares favourably with that of Tim Ambrose and Flintoff.

There wasn't much in this pitch. On day one the ball did swing but after that the wicket flattened out and it was pretty benign, so England's batsmen would have been disappointed with their performance.

Kevin Pietersen's come in for a spot of criticism - especially regarding his second innings score of 13. As usual he came out blazing and appeared not to bat as the situation required.

Some critics suggested he bats to his reputation and not to what is in front of him.
I wouldn't point the finger at Kevin or blame him for the result - he hit a couple of sparkling shots and was then undone by a good ball from Kallis.

Pietersen's a wonderful player, an entertainer and you just have to accept that sometimes he'll be at his best and sometimes he's going to fail. When the selectors sit down ahead of the next Test at Edgbaston they will not be discussing KP I promise you.

Top of the agenda will be whether to stick with five bowlers or revert to the policy that served them well at Lord's. It has been a problem for a while, especially when Freddie is injured or not in form.

Tim Ambrose's position at wicketkeeper is clearly under threat - he's not a number six batsman although he did show a measure of resolve in his second innings. Essex's James Foster and last year's incumbent Matt Prior are the favourites to replace him.

Prior's been in great form with the bat recently, but the selectors want to maintain consistency and I suspect that could see Ambrose keep his place.

As for the bowling attack, Darren Pattinson could bear the brunt of this defeat. I was suprised as anyone when he was picked, but the main question - aside from qualification - is whether Darren is good enough to be a Test bowler.

He's 30 next month, he doesn't have any tricks up his sleeve like reverse swing or explosive pace, and I suspect if Ryan Sidebottom is fit Darren will be packed off back to Nottinghamshire.

Overall these are worrying times for England; their bowling shows a lack of penetration and menace. Stuart Broad and James Anderson can perhaps be excused for looking jaded after their efforts at Lord's, but while Andrew Flintoff and Monty Panesar tried hard, their failure to extract life from this Headingley pitch is a concern.

South Africa's bowling unit has shown more bite throughout this game and seems a lot more threatening.

As for the debutant Darren Pattinson, he looks a reasonable bowler with a decent action, but bowling at an average of 80 miles per hour, he does not look exceptional.

Was he really a better option than Steve Harmison, who I notice took another four wickets for Durham today, or local boy Matthew Hoggard or the likes of Simon Jones, Sajid Mahmood, Graham Onions and Liam Plunkett?

If Ryan Sidebottom is fit for the third Test at Edgbaston next week, then I suspect Pattinson could well join the "one Test wonder club" - just like Sidebottom's father, Arnie, who appeared in a match I played in back in 1985.

It was interesting to hear Nottinghamshire coach Mike Newell say during the lunch interval on Test Match Special that having picked Pattinson, the England selectors now have a duty to nurture him even if he does not feature in the next Test.

A lot has been said about England's bowling, but the real problem in this match was the team being bowled out for 203 in just two sessions on the opening day.

Whenever that happens a side is under massive pressure for the rest of the game and even if England bat well in their second innings and score say 350 or 400 they will almost certainly still lose the match

What the remaining England batsman need to do, in my opinion, is to be positive and not just try to survive. If they just hang around then I believe wickets are more likely to fall. Although conditions are of course different here in Leeds than they were at Lords last week, South Africa's batsman showed that matches can be saved from this sort of position.

Alastair Cook, who I know well of course with my Essex connection, is just the kind of batsman who can stick in and frustrate the South African attack and after not scoring a century for England since last December, he could do with reaching three figures here.

One other thought. I took part in a phone-in on Test Match Special during lunch today where one caller advocted the dropping of Michael Vaughan.

Although he failed again, I still believe he is worth his place in the side. It is true that his form has dipped since he gave up opening the batting but I still think he is the best man to be marshalling the troops for England and remember he scored an excellent century in the opening Test of this summer against New Zealand.

He does not look as composed at the crease as he used to and is not as aggressive a player, but I believe he is a better batsman when he opens the innings, plays positively and sets the tone by leading from the front. That is exactly what Graeme Smith did for South Africa at the start of their innings.

The chairman of selectors Geoff Miller has clearly studied the form of all the bowlers in county cricket - as he should - and Pattinson came top of the pile.

I've got no problem with Darren (who was born in Grimsby but raised in Australia), but we've got to look at the bigger picture.

I captained England 34 times and many of the players under me were born overseas. I'm talking of Allan Lamb, Robin Smith, Graeme Hick - none of them born in England but all fantastic servants for this country.

These were men who decided to make their life in England and bring up their kids here. They were passionate about playing for the three Lions, but Pattinson's father says he's a proud Aussie - and his brother plays for their Under-19 side. Can you switch from being a proud Australian to a passionate Englishman overnight?

I grew up in London watching great men like Ken Barrington, Colin Cowdrey and Fred Trueman play for their country.

Representing England is more than just cricket, more than just a game or a pay packet. It's a tremendous honour, and it should be treated as such by players and the selectors.
Is this what playing for your country has come to?

That's the question I'll be putting to Geoff when he comes on BBC Radio 5 Live later this afternoon...

Andrew Strauss
Along with Panesar, he effectively won this Test match for England. After all the self doubt, and public criticism, he was back to somewhere near his best. 9

Alastair Cook
Partnered Strauss well but needs to expand his range of shots against spin. 6

Michael Vaughan
His captaincy skills were up to standard and I was also very impressed with his fluency and batting management against the dangerous Daniel Vettori 8

Ian Bell
Managed to edge England over the line, but doesn't look in the best of form. Has the talent to continue his England career. 6

Paul Collingwood
At the moment he's woefully out of touch with the bat. But a good player doesn't lose his ability, he just loses the confidence in that ability. 6

Tim Ambrose
Steady performance behind the stumps, but played a naïve shot to be dismissed in the first innings. 6

Stuart Broad
Mature performance with the bat, still learning with the ball. The England selectors must keep faithwith him. 7

Ryan Sidebottom
Not much in the Old Trafford pitch for him, but still Mr Reliable. 7

Monty Panesar
Magnificent bowling to put England back in the match when all the pressure was on his shoulders. 9

James Anderson
Consistency is not his watchword, when will it be? 6

A successful line-up has to have a positive outlook and attitude as well as good intent and a consistent tempo.

Over the last three series England's batting performances have been way below par for a side that is expected to challenge the best in the world.

England have good, experienced players in Vaughan, Pietersen, Strauss and Collingwood as well as talented youngsters in Cook and Bell.

They also have an impressive batting coach in Andy Flower, who I know well from his Essex days.

In my experience Andy's approach to batting has been nothing but positive, and this is where I think he has his work cut out with his England charges.

Here at Old Trafford, England have again batted in a lacklustre manner. In my opinion, they are playing wait-and-see cricket; they haven't taken the attack to the opposition and haven't in any way tried to stamp their authority on them.

Are they nervous and unsure of their places in the team? Or is it lack of a collective game plan? Whatdo you think is the reason for their under-performance?

A bouncer from England paceman James Anderson took the left-hander by surprise and he left the field minus one of his front teeth.

This is part of the batsmen's lot when you opt to play the hook shot - the one I remember most is back in the mid-eighties against the great West Indian side of that era.

Mike Gatting was facing up to the legendary Malcolm Marshall, he attempted to hook but was rather slow on the ball and the ball made direct contact with his nose.

Marshall enquired as to how he was and picked the ball up. He saw Gatt's nose in his cricket ball, decided he could not continue with the ball and threw it to the far side of Sabina Park.

On that note, Gatt left the ground. A few days later at a press conference, an English journalist asked him (looking like a giant panda) "where did it hit you Mike?"....

That's the one I remember most .. Over to you. Which ones do you remember?