Rarely has a ‘dead’ test match been quite so keenly anticipated as that between South Africa and India, which starts at the Wanderers on Wednesday. There isn’t usually much consolation to be gained for the team that has lost the series, and the victorious team often take their foot off the accelerator, subconsciously rather than […]
Why was it that so many South Africans were so moved by Lungisani Ngidi’s stunning performance in his debut Test? Social media was almost choked with semi-hysterical messages of joy and congratulations, from every corner of our multi-cultural society. It wasn’t merely the fact that he had taken 6-39 on debut. In fact he was […]
Stick with Steyn! Few sentiments are more galling and short-sighted than those from South African cricket ‘fans’ who propose an immediate cutting of ties between the national team and Dale Steyn following the heel injury which has ruled him out of the Test series against India. And it has nothing to do with sentiment. Even […]
Dale Steyn has spent 13 months getting back to full fitness after breaking his shoulder in the Perth Test against Australia in November 2016 and his journey has been packed with frustration. Not the least of which has been the scepticism of many South African supporters. “It has taken hundreds of hours of hard work […]
Day-Night, Four-day Test – Success! There will be many who point to the scorecard of the St.George’s Park Test against Zimbabwe and use it as evidence that the Test experiment – four day, day/night – was a disaster and should never be revisited. I suggest that those people will be attempting to use the ‘evidence’ […]
Divided Zimbabwe pulling in same direction. Plenty of Zimbabwean teams have been thrashed in the last dozen years and there is a chance that this one will be, too, but one thing they won’t be – unlike many of their predecessors – is over-awed or intimidated. None of them has had any experience of floodlit, […]
Titans coach Mark Boucher has reacted angrily to suggestions that the Titans did not take their final group match in the Ram Slam T20 Challenge seriously enough when they fielded a weakened team and lost heavily to the Dolphins at Kingsmead on Sunday. The Titans were bowled out for just 79 to lose by 89 […]
South Africa’s four-day Boxing Day Test against Zimbabwe is likely to be scheduled for just over four and a third days rather than ‘four’ with extra overs almost certain to be built-in to revised playing conditions. It has yet to be confirmed but proposals indicate that CSA have suggested 98 overs per day over the […]
Ottis Gibson is a good man, first. He is also a good coach, second. They are not mutually exclusive. His backroom staff is a clever mix of the old and the new although there have been some unfortunate casualties.
Much as some South Africans try to adopt a take-it-or-leave-it approach to the Ashes it’s hard not to take an interest given the intensity with which the contest is always contested and the saturation media coverage. It’s hard to get away from. We don’t need to apologise for being interested. Part of the problem, secretly, is the fear for some Proteas supporters that their desire to see Australia beaten may be interpreted as support for England which, of course, is a no-no.
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