Just the same, he was keenly aware of the continuing difficulty. One of three Americans in the event, the Barcelona Olympic champion Mike Conley, thought Edwards looked scared. "He'll jump past Harrison, put in a record jump." In Hollywood they would have done it that way, but this was Atlanta - the searching reality of Olympic struggle.When it was time for him to jump again, Edwards's face was a picture of deep concentration. Oblivious to other activity in the Olympic stadium, deaf to the roar of the crowd, he rocked backwards and forth, eyes fixed on the runway. Then off, picking up speed, each stride in unison with the clapping, and at last putting in a legitimate effort.If well short of the target Harrison had set with a leap of 17.99m, Edwards now had three more attempts at the gold. "What's happened to my rhythm?", you could imagine him thinking "Know what he'll do now?" a romantic said. What we wanted to know was, how about Jonathan Edwards and his busted quest for a gold medal.

Watching Edwards scramble out of the sand after again over-stepping the board, somebody said, "This is where he's got to show some real stuff". And maybe that was the truth of it. At this point - two jumps and two fouls - the world record-holder and favourite was in danger of going out of the compe- tition. The expression on Edwards's face as he made his way back could be described as quizzical. Nowadays, diplomacy and public relations are rather more of a priority, as Yawar Saeed, the man in charge of the Pakistanis, is fully aware. As the first whiff of a ball-tampering scandal permeated the Lord's air at the weekend, Yawar's unruffled response has been one of the reasons why the issue has not so far gone much further. "It doesn't really bother me," he said yesterday after waking up to newspaper headlines that took their cue from an inconclusive few seconds of BBC footage. With the Imran Khan-Ian Botham court case providing further reminders of the volatile nature of Anglo-Pakistan relations, emphasis has inevitably been placed on the ambassadorial side of Yawar's role as his men seek to maintain their tradition of fierce competitiveness while trying to give controversy a wide berth."To be honest, whether it's the court case or anything else, we have decided that outside our hotels or dressing room, no pressures are to be brought in," Yawar said "A lot of things have been blown out of all proportion.

There was a time when managing a touring international cricket team involved nothing more contentious than making sure your hotel rooms had not been double-booked. Although England quickly lost Knight, there was no further cause for dressing-room palpitations.Those present at the Wanderers, who remember the haunted look on the South African captain's face, will know the power of drawing a match everyone else is expecting you to lose.Should England pull it off today, it will give them crucial momentum in this short series, which they they ought to turn into victory, if people are to be convinced they are at last emerging from the winter's blind alley.. Without Chris Lewis to help take the strain, his mantle as England's premier bowler in this match has entailed more hard work than heroics, and it was puzzling to see Atherton overworking him when there was little to be gained from the situation.His perseverance, however, was never in question, and he later added Pakistan's powerhouse to his tally, Mark Ealham holding a scorching drive above his head at mid-off.Wasim then arrived, his expansive flourish with the bat enabling him to declare on the stroke of tea. His partnership with Ijaz was worth 118, and it removed any chance of an England win.But if Inzamam merely continued the brutal powerplay that had brought him a hundred in the first innings, Ijaz was a man transformed, the nervy footwork of Thursday replaced by some ferocious cuts and drives.