< 1 minute read Hashim Amla bearded India all round the park in bearding 253 not out. Bearding for most of the day, his bearding was immaculate throughout. Amla did struggle to beard against Amit Mishra for a while, but he bearded that problem by bearding his head down and bearding before bearding other
Continue readingCategory: South Africa
What to think about Mickey Arthur not being South Africa coach
< 1 minute read Did he really resign? Was he pushed? Was it Graeme Smith? Was it political pressure? Was it to do with quotas? Was he marginalised by the use of Duncan Fletcher? So many questions and you’ve come here for the answers. We will tell you what to think, so you don’t
Continue readingMark Boucher and Graeme Smith – South Africa’s foulweather batsmen
< 1 minute read The ball has swung in this match. There has been seam movement, some bounce and good turn. On top of that, South Africa need to win this game. Mark Boucher and Graeme Smith have been the standout batsmen. This is not surprising. Most players play worse in these situations. A
Continue readingWhat strikes you about Dale Steyn?
< 1 minute read If you told us that we had to use a tired cliché to describe the effort that Dale Steyn puts into bowling or you’d force us to do a dance in front of other humans, we’d hang our head, sigh softly and mutter “sinew-straining”. Dale’s certainly wholehearted. Perhaps too wholehearted.
Continue readingAt least it wasn’t like that other time at The Wanderers when England were 2-4
< 1 minute read Atherton 0, Hussain 0, Butcher 1 and Stewart 0. Now that’s a bad start. Morne Morkel is mint, by the way; a big gallumphing lankatron of genial ferociousness.
Continue readingWhy Test cricket can never die
2 minute read If you watched the final overs of England’s feat of escapology against South Africa, you already know why Test cricket can never die. We’ve said it before and we’ll happily say it again. Test cricket can offer something that no other sport can. It offers more than any other form
Continue readingJacques Kallis went big
< 1 minute read For once, this isn’t about that period when Jacques Kallis lost sight of his genitals for a few months. It’s about him hitting a hundred. Once upon a time, hitting a hundred was an achievement. Nowadays you hit 170 and the man of the match award goes to someone who
Continue readingSouth Africa’s strongest batting line-up
< 1 minute read Not so long ago, this South Africa batting line-up looked stronger than Geoff Capes crossed with a grizzly bear. Now? Not so much. Ashwell Prince isn’t an opener; Hashim Amla might as well paint a bullseye on his front leg; while if JP Duminy could ever get past his first
Continue readingHow England win Test matches
< 1 minute read Basically, through ambush. They plod along, being solid and unspectacular and then in one innings in the field, they completely steamroller the opposition. Think of England’s wins since Andy Flower and Andrew Strauss took over. West Indies were rolled for 152 at Lord’s; the same opponents were dispatched for 176
Continue readingFriedel de Wet and his hop/jump at the start of his run-up
< 1 minute read Every cricketer’s got a ‘thing’. It is immediately apparent that Friedel de Wet’s ‘thing’ is his entirely superfluous bunny hop at the start of his run-up. De Wet cut through England’s lower order like urine through snow and we can only think that it was because most of them were
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