“We can draw it, or try our best to; winning would be far-fetched.” – Keegan Petersen
Telford Vice / Newlands
TOO many people who can afford elite schools have children. So it can take an hour and more to reach Newlands — where several of these damned schools are clustered — on a weekday afternoon. That’s when all those little darlings pour out of their classrooms and into awaiting cars. And clog up the real world’s roads.
Consequently the journey to Newlands on Tuesday for the first SA20 qualifier, between Sunrisers Eastern Cape and Durban’s Super Giants, offered plenty of time and opportunity to reflect on the importance of population control and making better life choices — and what happens when those virtues are lacking.
Not that cricket in South Africa hasn’t benefited from the arrogance of those who believe the world couldn’t possibly get by without another dose of their genes. Almost all of the cricketers who reach the professional ranks in the country — and in a fair few other countries — have passed through the gates of the better schools in Cape Town and beyond. It is the only part of South Africa’s cricket system that runs something like properly.
Tuesday wasn’t the best time to highlight that fact. Not long after Reece Topley bowled the first ball to Jordan Hermann at Newlands, South Africa’s men’s under-19 team found a way to lose their World Cup semifinal in Benoni despite having reduced India, who needed 245 to win, to 32/4 inside a dozen overs. It doesn’t help when you concede 23 runs in wides. Hours earlier in the first men’s Test in Mount Maunganui, South Africa had been bowled out for 162. By stumps on the third day New Zealand had a lead of 528. “We can draw it, or try our best to; winning would be far-fetched,” Keegan Petersen told reporters. “It’s a wicket where we could look to survive. It’s going to be tough to do it for two days but that’s the hand we’ve been dealt.”
Ah, well. Nevermind. What was going on at Newlands? Nothing. The SA20 suits should have wondered whether they were tempting fate when they signed a sponsor who shares a name with what stops cricket in its tracks. After SEC had faced 50 deliveries, rain — the wet stuff, not the South African mobile communications company — arrived on the wings of whipping wind and tumbled out of a solid grey sky to halt play.
The last bit of entertainment that was had before the rippling covers shrouded large parts of the ground was watching Stephen Cook, the SA20’s head of cricket operations, try to stop his umbrella from turning itself inside out by deploying some of the same gawky movements he used to make when he opened the batting for South Africa. Then, his technique worked well enough for him to score three centuries and two 50s in 19 innings. On Tuesday, not so much.
All the tickets for Saturday’s final had been snapped up before Mumbai Indians Cape Town crashed out of the running. Would it have asked too much of Capetonians to wait out a rain delay to see two teams — neither playing in the city’s name — fight it out for the right to feature in a match their anointed side had no hope of reaching? As it happened, no.
The covered concourse, where many spectators headed for shelter, was rich with beer bouquet, burger breath, cigarette smoke, shining eyes, smiles, laughter, stilt walkers, feathery angel wings, and other, less readily identifiable wonders of the moment. Newlands has fallen into disrepair, but its devotees haven’t been dragged down with it. The fans are a credit to this place, and they deserve better.
The interruption dragged on for five minutes short of two hours. Or, incredibly, five minutes less than would have forced a reduction in overs. High up in the stands beyond the Wynberg End, two spectators high-fived each other in joy at the news that they would get full value for their money.
What did they make of South Africa’s performance in New Zealand? Were they disappointed by the result of the under-19 World Cup semifinal? How long had they been stuck in traffic trying to get to Newlands? All things considered, it seemed rude to ask.
- New Zealand won by 281 runs on Wednesday.
Cricbuzz
Bulletproof Truth 