Graham Onions Brings Tears To South African Eyes

However, there is no question the Gateshead quick has done his reputation the world of good out in South Africa. His bowling has been good and he has probably deserved more wickets than the stats book show.

And in helping England save not one, but two Test matches at the Centurion before Chrsitmas and now at Newlands, two of the iconic grounds of South African cricket, he has written his name into Barmy Army folklore.

An opening batsman as a youngster, before realising he was far better at chucking the ball down the wicket than trying to hit it to the boundary, Onions is not, as his nickname would suggest, a bunny rabbit with the bat.

But it takes more than just a sound technique to block at the death of a tense Test match, it takes guts and titanic mental strength and Onions has both.

There are some of us who still believe Stephen Harmison should be involved in the England set up, but Onions is proving to be a more than able replacement for his Durham colleague and a better batsman to boot.

England have got themselves into an excellent position in the series, 1-0 up going into the final Fest in Johannesburg next week, away from home against the team rated number one in the world.

There was a time when we'd expect the team to crumble, to stumble as the finishing line came into view, but we have seen a rather different mentality creep into English and British sport during the Noughties.

We are no longer content with valiant failures and heroic near misses. We want victories and this young, fresh England side will be massively disappointed if they draw the series rather than win it.

This has been a really gritty team performance, particularly from three players who went into the winter knowing a poor tour could end their international careers - at least temporarily.

However Paul Collingwood, Alaistair Cook and Ian Bell have all scored runs when they have been needed and the belligerent partnership between Bell and Collingwood was the real reason for England managing to save the game on the fifth day on Thursday.

Bell is a wonderfully talented batsman whose mental strength has been rightly questioned at times, but this may be a coming of age moment for him.

As for Collingwood, there isn't a tougher character in the team and that is why he has consistently managed to save himself from the chop even when the runs haven't been there for him.

If England - who have done all this without an in form Kevin Pietersen - can complete the job next week, this team will have an excellent launch pad to become, pause for dramatic effect, the best team in the world and it isn't very often we can say that about one of our own now is it?!