Did he grass it? Is AB a cheat? What disturbs me most about the controversy blighting the Headingley Test is not that AB de Villiers claimed a dropped catch, but rather the self-righteous, holier-than-thou attitude shown by England skipper Michael Vaughan and coach Peter Moores after the former did the same.

To call AB a cheat is ludicrous. He claimed a catch that was clearly not held, but to label him a crook for one poor moment of judgment is a damn shame, but it is unfortunately the norm in today's hunger for controversy.

Not for one moment do I think that De Villiers purposefully looked to hoodwink anybody, nor do I think Vaughan was crooking the Proteas when he claimed the wicket of Hashim Amla despite dropping the ball.

But the reaction of the English camp was laughable.

Vaughan and co. gave away their right to take the morale high ground on the De Villiers debate the minute the English skipper claimed that 'catch'. Moores claimed later that each situation was different. He expressed disappointment with De Villiers, but backed his captain’s call that he took a clean catch. Basically he is questioning De Villiers' character, while endorsing Vaughan's.

This is despite the fact that replays clearly show the England skipper did not take it cleanly. I am not sure why we should accept Vaughan's word as good and not De Villiers's, but there you have it... England have long been the masters of double-standards.

Moores goes on to question South African coach Mickey Arthur's decision to stop Amla from walking off — Arthur has every right to do so — and again England looked to take the self-righteous approach.

This is despite the fact that this has happened in an England Test before. When playing against India at Lord's last year, Mahendra Singh Dhoni claimed a catch off Kevin Pietersen, who was two thirds of the way back to the pavilion before he stopped and the decision was overturned. I ask again: why is England's stand considered different to South Africa’s?

Are we truly expected to believe that England are oh-so virtuous that they would never err on the wrong side of caution?

Cricket has a funny way of coming back to bite you. Moan about a crap decision going against you as much as you want, because chances are the same thing is going to happen to your opponents — probably in the same match...

As it was neither catch was given. Strauss did not last much longer, while Amla was still at the crease at stumps, before getting a 'roughie' — lbw to debutant Darren Pattinson — on Saturday.

Chances are England will continue to moan about that 'catch' if they lose this Test and that would be a crying shame. You would certainly not have to look very far back in history to find a series that went England's way because of poor decisions.

Try 1998 when umpire Javed Akhtar did his very best to hand England the series against South Africa.

But then England are the masters of double-standards... Aren't they?

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