It’s only 70-or so kilometres from Dambulla to Kandy and Google maps said it should take ‘only’ an hour and 51 minutes to get there. The reality was two and a half hours. The scenery was always fascinating but watching it lurch past from inside the mini-bus, with frequent, sudden stops and wrenching accelerations doesn’t do much for the constitution.  We headed straight to Pallekelle International Stadium where I walked straight to the middle, as much to counter the travel sickness as to have a look at the wicket, as my job has required for over a decade. For once it was actually refreshing, briefly, to feel the heat of the sun and the ferocity of the humidity as last night’s rain was sucked brutally out of the ground. It was actually steaming in places.    Equally steaming was Jonny Bairstow who didn’t recognise me and obviously didn’t like...
You can visit Dambulla and not climb to the top of the Sigirya Rock and nobody will blame you for being a culural heathen. It’s a fair challenge for the less physically conditioned and the chances of being airlifted out in the event of a serious lack of fitness are remote. But most visitors make a fist of it and, happily, none of them died today. That we were aware of. Only five of the TalkSport team made it to the top. The climb up Lion’s Staircase isn’t for those with a fear of heights. It’s not for the impatient either. Lonely Planet’s guide suggests avoiding “midday and weekendâ€. We arrived at 12:00pm on Sunday. The Rock was formed some 3500 million years ago and the first signs of human habitation date back to 5000 years BC. It’s basically been tinkered with ever since, Buddhist monks building more –and less...
There is something quite peaceful about an international venue 48 hours before it hosts an international fixture, especially one of the smaller venues. The administrators and ground staff are quietly pottering about their business in the knowledge that ‘the world’ will start descending on them the following day. It’s the last few hours of relative peace and quiet before they have to start worrying about television rigging, press conferences and VIP suites. The Mangaung Oval was bathed in warm sunshine today as the Free State Cricket Union prepared to host the second ODI against Zimbabwe. It’s hardly an event to ruffle the sporting schedule on a global scale but it is another opportunity for the region to prove its mettle as a host. And yet, right next door, in full view, is the Free State rugby stadium – I think it’s officially called the Toyota Stadium now. It towers over...
Financial reporting is best left to financial reporters, I’ll be the first to admit. It would be as unfair and unkind (but amusing) to expect them to explain reverse swing as it would be for a sports reporter to explain macro-economics. Or macro anything for that matter. Many years ago one of the ‘real’ journalists arrived at a Sunshine Tour event clearly out of her comfort zone. But she had taken the trouble to do her research and, abiding by the unwritten rule amongst hacks that you ‘contribute’ at press conferences rather than piggy-back on the efforts of others, duly raised her hand to ask the tournament favourite, John Bland, a question after the first round. “John, did you have any holes-in-one today?†Without so much as a blink, never mind a pause, Bland replied: “No, not today, but I’m hoping for a couple tomorrow.†So it is with caution...
It may be hyperbole to suggest the ‘cricket playing world’ has its eyes on South Africa this week but it is certainly true that administrators, marketers, advertisers, broadcasters and many of the top players in the world – and every professional here – are watching T20 developments with a keen eye. In some cases it is no more than rubber-necking, furtive glances to see how bad the crash will be compared to the horror of the Global League’s implosion. There are some with genuine hope but they are not putting their optimism on public display – far too risky. It is 56 days until the first game is scheduled. We have no teams, squads, fixtures or sponsors – and no broadcaster. Cricket South Africa and Supersport have fallen out so badly they haven’t spoken to each other for over a month. Instead, negotiations between CSA and the SABC have been taking place...
In a typically brilliant article on the importance of learning your trade from senior players and others who have walked the path before you, former England captain Michael Atherton traced the lineage of his country’s opening batsman through the last half a century and made the point that there was always an established number one for a young number two to learn from. Graeme Gooch learned from Geoff Boycott, Atherton learned from Gooch and Marcus Trescothick from Atherton. A young Andrew Strauss was mentored by Trescothick and he did the same for Alastair Cook who starts his 161st and final Test match at the Oval on Friday. Also in amongst the mix was Alec Stewart. “I can’t remember much of what Gooch used to say to me about opening the batting in Test cricket, but I know that I learnt the game at the highest level by watching him. I had the best seat in...
One of my most enduring memories of the 2003 World Cup is of the tears building in a wonderful, hard-working and loyal lady’s eyes as the awful realisation finally dawned, and then the slow trickle down her cheeks. She had been literally unable to accept the possibility that the match against Sri Lanka at Kingsmead would not restart – could not face the appalling reality that the host nation would not be featuring in the knockout stages, never mind winning it. Having dedicated much of the preceding four years of her life to the team and the event, she had been willingly persuaded that this was South Africa’s ‘time.’ An hour after the match was abandoned she was in a state of clinical shock. The memories came back to me this week as the but similarly grim reality has slowly been setting in that the country’s desperately needed, new T20...
    The T20 Global League’s collapse is having a far greater impact on South African cricket than any of us could have imagined. Instead of a scenario in which the country’s best player are incentivised to stay at home and commit themselves to playing in, and for, South Africa, they are now facing the same financial conundrum that existed in the early 2000s when rewards were so overwhelmingly weighted towards playing overseas that many felt they had no alternative.     It’s not just the likes of established internationals like Kyle Abbott and Rilee Rossouw – they were offered the security of four-year contracts amounting to more than they could have earned for the rest of their careers in SA, even if they played international cricket on a regular basis.     If the contracts awarded players in the Global League draft had been honoured, over 120 players would have earned between 200 and 500% of their provincial...
One of my most enduring memories of the 2003 World Cup is of the tears building in a wonderful, hard-working and loyal lady’s eyes as the awful realisation finally dawned, and then the slow trickle down her cheeks. She had been literally unable to accept the possibility that the match against Sri Lanka at Kingsmead would not restart – could not face the appalling reality that the host nation would not be featuring in the knockout stages, never mind winning it. Having dedicated much of the preceding four years of her life to the team and the event, she had been willingly persuaded that this was South Africa’s ‘time.’ An hour after the match was abandoned she was in a state of clinical shock. The memories came back to me this week as the but similarly grim reality has slowly been setting in that the country’s desperately needed, new T20...
    The T20 Global League’s collapse is having a far greater impact on South African cricket than any of us could have imagined. Instead of a scenario in which the country’s best player are incentivised to stay at home and commit themselves to playing in, and for, South Africa, they are now facing the same financial conundrum that existed in the early 2000s when rewards were so overwhelmingly weighted towards playing overseas that many felt they had no alternative.     It’s not just the likes of established internationals like Kyle Abbott and Rilee Rossouw – they were offered the security of four-year contracts amounting to more than they could have earned for the rest of their careers in SA, even if they played international cricket on a regular basis.     If the contracts awarded players in the Global League draft had been honoured, over 120 players would have earned between 200 and 500% of their provincial...