Ottis Gibson had more explaining to do after South Africa made it 715 for seven from their last two innings.

After the tourists had closed on 322 for four at Headingley, in reply to 203 all out, it fell to England bowling coach Gibson to account for another near blank day for the England attack.

He had to begin by accounting for the surprise call-up of Darren Pattinson, responsible for the sole wicket to fall on day two of the second Test as Ashwell Prince (134no) bagged his second hundred in as many matches.

His first preceded the 393 for three South Africa piled up to draw the opening Test at Lord's after following on - a narrative which lent a 'groundhog' element to Gibson's remarks.

The twist this time was that the presence of Grimsby-born and Australia-raised Pattinson, called up after only 11 first-class matches two weeks before his 30th birthday, also required some justification - especially since captain Michael Vaughan permitted the new recruit only 16 overs, to the 28 bowled each by Lancastrians Andrew Flintoff and James Anderson.

"It was a tough day for Darren, and all the rest of the bowlers," Gibson conceded.

"Obviously it's a very big occasion, for him to make his debut for England."

Gibson was at pains to point out, however, that - although Pattinson was something of a 'Headingley' pick - the selectors did not simply pluck him from nowhere.

"We've been watching him since the start of the year, and the reports coming back have been quite good," he said of the man who joined Nottinghamshire only at the start of this season.

"We knew we had hit-the-deck bowlers, and the reports on Darren were that he pitches the ball up and swings it. That's what we felt we needed for this game.

"It came down to looking at all the bowlers round the country, who was bowling well and swinging the ball - and all the reports pointed to Darren."

The problem was that, when England and Pattinson bowled, the cloud cover which persisted for much of yesterday quickly receded.

"Knowing what we might get in terms of conditions at Headingley, we went with him - but the conditions we've had haven't really favoured him," added Gibson.

"So he, like everybody else, has found it quite difficult to get wickets."

Gibson is nonetheless adamant, as he was at Lord's, that England's bowlers have done little wrong.

"I thought we bowled well again today. We beat the bat, and often you can only do as much as the conditions allow you to," he reasoned.

"We've tried to be aggressive at times - but we just got nothing out of the surface.

"Overhead conditions make a huge difference at Headingley, and it just hasn't swung for us."

Gibson added too that bowlers such as Steve Harmison, Simon Jones and Matthew Hoggard - to whom Pattinson was preferred - are still in the reckoning for recalls.

"We are monitoring everyone else. We know exactly where Simon Jones is in his comeback from injury; we know what Harmy is up to - and Hoggy," he said.

Those who were instead backed to beat the South Africans here were shut out principally by Prince, in stands of 67 with Hashim Amla and then an unbroken 179 with AB de Villiers (70no).

Amla believes Prince is batting better than ever.

"Over the last couple of years he has been a star performer for us," he said.

"I think his temperament is superb and he keeps the game quite simple. That's basically his biggest trait.

"He's batting very well at the moment on key occasions for us. He's produced two fantastic knocks, two of the best I've seen."