Jacques Kallis will be asked to take on the captaincy of South Africa if - as is expected - Graeme Smith succumbs to tennis elbow for the third match of the NatWest Series.
Smith is extremely doubtful for Friday's encounter, one the tourists must win to retain hopes of a victorious campaign.
The 27-year-old has played through the pain in England's opening successes at Headingley and Trent Bridge and is in dire need of resting the injury.
All-rounder Kallis is therefore expected to lead the Proteas out at The Oval despite quitting the vice-captaincy last year, furious at being axed from his country's Twenty20 squad.
Kallis has captained South Africa in seven ODIs - filling in for Smith in two separate stints in 2006 and 2007 - and experienced wicketkeeper Mark Boucher promoted his colleague as the one to lead in the current crisis.
"I know he gave up the vice-captaincy a little while ago because there were a few issues there and there probably still are a few issues," Boucher said.
"But if it's as a stand-in and an emergency I don't think he will say no to helping the team out."
Boucher has also been in charge in the past and is expected to be Kallis' on-field lieutenant as the South Africans attempt to drag themselves out of the wreckage of defeat at Trent Bridge yesterday and repeat the kind of comeback they last managed five years ago.
"I said to the guys in the changing room after the game that not all is lost," Boucher explained.
"We have been 2-0 down before and came back to win that series in Pakistan. Somehow we have got to try to do it again."
"It seems a long way away to win three games in a row but England have won two in a row and it's only one more game than that."
"There's no reason why we can't change momentum. It's going to take a massive effort from the senior players but it's an opportunity for us to stand up and be counted."
"We have talked about trying to forget what happened at Trent Bridge but you can't."
"One or two of the senior guys are really going to have to respond now if we are going to have any chance at all in the series."
"It's not as if we were 'not there'. It was different from the first game when all the batsmen got in and then gave it away, and got out at bad times."
Whereas previous South African teams seemed to bat forever, this current model rose to the world No.1 ranking with the use of specialists.
Conversely that has meant no Shaun Pollock, Andrew Hall, Nicky Boje or Lance Klusener performing rescue acts when things have gone awry at the start.
Their lack of presence has undoubtedly increased the pressure on the top order, which was blown away in a score of 83 during the humiliating day-night defeat to England.
"Yes it probably has," Boucher said. "But that is the way we decided to go with selection - we are playing wicket-taking bowlers."
"We were criticised in the past for not having wicket takers, so we have gone with this kind of selection."
"So it is about knuckling down, and one of the top four has to bat through and get a hundred every time."
"We don't want to pack the team with nine batsmen and send the message to the top order that there are other people that can do the job."
"We have got to put the responsibility on the top six batsmen. That is why they are in the side."