Today was a throwback to the good old days – an age when test cricket was actually a test. So many games meander along at a snail’s pace these days, with batsmen cashing in on slow, lifeless decks. Who’d be a bowler, eh? Who’d be a spectator either? In the UAE and at Cape Town, you could confidently leave your seat for half an hour without worrying you’d miss something vital. This test match has been different. For starters we’ve got a pitch with something for everyone. Secondly...
Records Tumble, And Become Almost Meaningless – Day 4 at Newlands
This test will go into the history books. Ben Stokes scored the fastest test 250 ever, and this afternoon Temba Bavuma became the first black South African to score a test century. Excuse me if I don’t spontaneously combust in excitement. I don’t want to pass water on anyone’s parade here. Stokes batted incredibly well, and nobody can deny the brilliant political significance of Bavuma’s attractive innings – I hope he, and other black South Africans, score many more test hundreds – but big runs...
Day of Destruction – Day Two at Newlands
Did we all imagine that? What Ben Stokes did today was insane. It was both destructive and majestic. Innings like that are endangering T20 cricket. What impressed me most is that it wasn’t just adrenaline fuelled slogging; it was calculated brutality. Stokes picked the right balls to hit, and hit them he did … right into next week. Here’s a summary of the landmarks Stokes reached today: Most sixes in a test innings for England Highest test score by an England batsman against South Africa...
England Showing Good Signs
It’s all looking rather promising eh. England quite often start overseas tours at a slug’s pace (apparently they’re slower than snails). But this time we’ve started in the perfect fashion – thanks to a couple of our middle-order dashers. Seeing Ben Stokes return to the side and score an imperious 158 at almost a run a ball warms the cockles. He’s becoming a bit of a streaky batsman. When everything clicks, he’s unstoppable. I think we can safely say that the lad has regained something close to...
The inevitable delayed – day four from Perth
Australia 385 & 369-6 dec. England 250 & 251-5 stumps. As England fans we can’t win when we’re in the doldrums. Had we been bundled out for 47, like this Australian team in the recent past, we would’ve bemoaned our lack of fight and guts. Now that Bell and Stokes have shown a bit of resistance, we’re going to agonise over what could have been. For the first time, England’s middle-order showed that this Australian attack might be a very good one, but it’s essentially the same attack that...
Bressie back in the swing
After a week of tedious debate about sledging (and the potential merits of punching George Bailey in the face) we can finally concentrate on the actual cricket again. Phew! Thanks heavens we can all move on. Anyone would’ve though that sledging is a new phenomenon. Let’s just say that Warner crossed a line when he called Trott ‘weak’ during his press conference, and Mitchell Johnson made us laugh when he claimed his sledging rattled England. Mitch, we don’t want to be too harsh, but if...
