By BBC News Online's Thrasy Petropoulos

Moments before Nasser Hussain was summoned before the British journalists to talk once again about precisely nothing, he was whipped away to take part in one of the more banal photo-shoots of the past three and a half months.

There he sat, fingering an African figurine pensively, deliberating over his next move on a chess board borrowed from a nearby shop.

The picture was supposed to give the impression that cricket is a game of mind. Being bored out his mind might have been a more fitting sentiment.

By the time England get on to the field to play the final of a triangular tournament that has stalled before the finishing line (assuming, that is, they ever do), a fortnight will have passed since they were last involved in active combat.

With more rain forecast, the United Cricket Board of South Africa (UCB) have seen fit to postpone the final by a day, and to carry over the reserve day to Monday. The upshot has been a logistical nightmare.

Not only have the plans of 31,000 people (a sell-out crowd), many of them travelling England fans and South Africa supporters from outside Johannesburg, been thrown into the air, but the England squad and the circus of administrators and written and electronic press which accompanies them will most probably arrive in Zimbabwe a day later than scheduled in a specially chartered aeroplane.

Past problems

The difficulties of acclimatisation in Zimbabwe were highlighted three years ago when England struggled from the start of their last tour there and ended up drawing an angry Test series and losing the one-dayers 3-0.

If the final is on Monday (which will be a fresh day game if there is no result under lights on Sunday - whatever the state of the game), the first one-day international in Zimbabwe is in Bulawayo on Wednesday - weather permitting.

For a week now the England players have done little else but wander around the plush shopping complex which is linked to their even plusher hotel.

Comfort is of little luxury when boredom sets in.

Change of scenery

The UCB must surely now think long and hard about the World Cup final here in three years' time.

The amount of rain has been unseasonal but at this time of year most days in Jo'berg see showers - and that means showers of African proportions - falling at around 4pm.

While the floods which have accompanied the rains continue to cause havoc in and around the area, Cape Town has been mockingly dry on the south-west coast.

Hussain did try to put a positive spin on things, but his dreary eyes told a different story.

Physically everyone is fit and raring to go; mentally, they are in need of a change of location - and soon.

"I think they (the players) are pretty enthusiastic about this match," Hussain said. "People are more bored than anything else.

"It's the same for both sides. They will have had limited practice, you just have to get on with it. At this stage you can find you practise too much some times.

"You just have to make the best of a bad situation. The most important thing is which side is going to be the more switched on come whenever it may be, Sunday or Monday.

"We would have liked to go to Zimbabwe and prepare there early, but we have to do everything to try and finish this tournament off properly.

"If it means getting to Bulawayo a day later so be it. It does put a bit of extra pressure on us because there will be about five one-day games in about 12 days which will be hard work."

A bit of hard work has never seemed more appetising.