England fans will hope that the debacle of the Headingley Test will be a turning point in the series. Undoubtedly, the decision to pick Darren Pattinson went some way to causing such a poor display from an England side that failed to bat with the necessary patience and maturity to eke out a result.

Arguably, the decision to call up the former Australian roofer was one of the worst ever to grace any sport in recent years. Pattinson had a limited amount of first-class matches under his belt, both in Oz and in county cricket in England, and he is not a young cricketer who England could build up for use in future series.

The surprising call-up was a kick in the teeth for men who had given their all for their country (e.g. Matthew Hoggard, Steve Harmison and Simon Jones) and those that have been knocking on the door of the England team (e.g. Chris Tremlett and Saj Mahmood).

In retrospect, it’s fair to say that the decision to play Pattinson in the second Test helped unsettle the England team, and the first-innings failure had much to do with the introduction of a player many in the England team had never even heard of before, let alone met.

The selectors have rightly taken a huge amount of flak since the decision was made. Although Pattinson didn’t bowl badly, he did not perform well enough to protect the selectors. After England had toiled in the field for three days at Lord’s and lost key bowler Ryan Sidebottom, the selectors – led by Geoff Miller – had a massive decision to make and it is clear that they failed spectacularly.

Their reaction ahead of the crucial third Test at Edgbaston has been to recall Harmison and Paul Collingwood in a 13-man squad that will be whittled down on Wednesday morning.

In many ways the selectors have left coach Peter Moores and skipper Michael Vaughan with as many problems as ever. It would appear that Tim Ambrose’s place is secure this summer, however he performs with the bat - and the make-up of the bowling attack is far from certain.

James Anderson, Andrew Flintoff and Monty Panesar will definitely start, as will Ryan Sidebottom if he is fit. Doubts have been raised about Stuart Broad in recent days, as he is considered to be tired following his excellent batting display at Headingley.

So, Broad could be dropped either for Harmison to stiffen the bowling or for Collingwood to add a little more security to the batting. Obviously, the conditions will make a major impact on any decision but England surely need to play a five-man bowling attack. This is likely to be how they will go against Australia next summer and it is the only way they can hope to get 20 wickets against a formidable South Africa side.

Thankfully for England there is some good news from the South Africa camp. Dale Steyn will miss the third Test with a broken finger. Steyn has been in impressive form so far and has accounted for the wicket of Vaughan twice in the series so far. Andre Nel will likely replace him and, although no one can doubt his commitment, the Proteas will miss the raw pace of Steyn.

Edgbaston is all set up for a match which should see plenty of runs, wickets and excitement. England will no doubt pick an attacking line-up and the pressure is on them to secure the win that will keep the series alive.

But this South African side is strong, even without Steyn. Jacques Kallis is still to get going with the bat and if England can’t take enough wickets, the Proteas will be in pole position for the final Test at the Oval.