< 1 minute readWell obviously wicket-taking miserliness is what you’re aiming for. But there was a fire-and-ice, chalk-and-cheese, black-guy-and-ginger-guy contrast between South Africa’s opening bowlers in the first one-day international against Pakistan. Shaun Pollock didn’t get a wicket but only went for three an over from his full allocation. Makhaya Ntini went at
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Don’t drop Jacques Kallis
< 1 minute readBecause paradoxically we end up having to watch even more of him. The South African selectors felt they could do without the world’s most willing batsman and least willing bowler for the Twenty20 World Cup. Jacques Kallis was a little irritated by this and resigned the vice-captaincy. He also claimed
Continue readingSouth Africa select bowlers on the basis of bowling ability
2 minute readHow are South Africa managing to beat Pakistan? They won the first Test and now they’re on the verge of taking a 150-run first innings lead in a despicably constricted two match back-to-back series. Well, rather ingeniously and for just about the first time since their readmittance to Test cricket
Continue readingMark Boucher breaks record for Test dismissals
< 1 minute readIan Healy, Australia’s wicketkeeper before Adam Gilchrist, had 395 victims in 119 Tests. Mark Boucher’s just gone past him in his 103rd Test. Quite impressive really. There are fewer draws these days and a couple of poorer teams, which goes some way towards explaining how Boucher managed to reach this
Continue readingJacques Kallis fills the void
< 1 minute readShaun Pollock may have been dropped, but South Africa have got more than one crushingly dispiriting all-rounder at their disposal. In fact, South African cricket can boast a whole battalion of line-and-length-bowling competent-batting dullards. Jacques Kallis is a little better than competent, of course, although he’s a dullard in more
Continue readingShaun Pollock dropped for some reason
< 1 minute read42 year-old ginger snoreathon, Shaun Pollock, has been dropped from the South African Test team for the first time. Rumours that South African coach, Mickey Arthur, said, ‘I can’t watch one more delivery from that freckled automaton,’ are probably true, although we haven’t heard it anywhere. Pollock’s place is supposed
Continue readingAnother choketastic performance from South Africa
2 minute readWe’re not gloating. England rarely even give themselves a chance to choke. No dramatic knock-outs for England. England exit tournaments quite serenely, moving from ‘performing badly’ to ‘up against it’ then ‘as good as out’ before finally reaching ‘qualification a mathematical impossibility’ – at which point they board a plane
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South Africa choke in 1999 World Cup semi final against Australia
< 1 minute readSouth Africa needed nine off the final over and Lance Klusener – by some way the best batsman in that tournament – belted the first two deliveries for four. South Africa now needed one to win. The third ball went straight to a fielder, but Allan Donald was already half
Continue readingJustin Kemp: attacking batsman
< 1 minute readNo headlining effort from us today. World Cup player to watch, Justin Kemp, hadn’t done a great deal since South Africa’s first match, but yesterday he rediscovered runs. Or boundaries, at any rate. 89 off 56 balls is always handy, but when you’re chasing 154 it pretty much does the
Continue readingEngland march on – yes they do
< 1 minute readTo continue our superlative Twenty20 World Cup coverage in the manner that’s increasingly fitting… England thrashed South Africa, easily chasing down an eminently reachable target and they certainly don’t need to win the next two games in order to stay in the competition. Kevin Pietersen’s run out didn’t look this
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