Ball-by-ball updates from the third Test's first day in Johannesburg

Now AB de Villiers prepares to lead South Africa for the first time in Tests – a job he has long coveted – but for how long he is in charge, or even playing the five-day format, is one of the burning questions of the moment. The 32-year-old batsman has been suffering with a stomach problem but has returned to training ahead of the game, which starts in Johannesburg on Thursday 14 January. “The programme is a really interesting one because the Future Tours Programme always seems to be tied up for six years and then when it gets three years into it, like a footballer with his contract, it seems to be extended before you can do anything about it. That is probably the biggest issue”. The fact that he is considering where he goes from here, and whether he continues to play Test cricket beyond the end of this series, has been a topic of some discussion since an Afrikaans newspaper suggested that this series could be his last. “I have been speaking with some people and clearly that is released”.

Still, matches at the Bullring tend to proceed at a good pace, and a gloomy, low cloud-cover sort of environment without too many rain disruptions could make the pitch fairly spicy and turn the Test into something of a lottery – maybe a better hallmark for the team that is trailing in a series?

But what de Villiers does after this Test series is even more significant than what he does at the Wanderers and Centurion. If he retires from Test cricket aged 31, straight after fulfilling his almost-lifelong dream of captaining South Africa’s Test team, something is seriously wrong.

“There are big tournaments going on around the world and some of them you can not ignore because financially they make a huge difference in our lives. We turned things around as far as our confidence is concerned in Cape Town and we come into this game energised”, De Villiers said in a pitchside interview. “Worldwide cricket is the main cricket you want to play, especially test cricket”, he said. “The people who run it must know there is a responsibility on their shoulders to look after it and try and push it forward”. I can’t make that statement.

“I’ve played enough series to know that a little momentum shift like that doesn’t just happen”.

Proteas captain AB de Villiers won the toss and chose to bat in overcast conditions at the Wanderers, but openers Stiaan van Zyl and Dean Elgar looked comfortable in the early stages against the new ball. “He bowls with very big pace and good control and he’s taken ten wickets in a row in the two games before his last for his franchise”. Obviously, I want to get my experience across to some of the youngsters.

“I believe it is a heading problem for that ICC (International Cricket Council) to obtain the correct kind of framework to maintain all of the men clean”. Lots of things can happen before then.