Telford Vice's Blog, page 11

Brits brilliant, but rues what might have been

“Mentally it does sit with me because if I batted a bit longer I feel I could have put the team in a different position.” – Tazmin Brits

Telford Vice / Cape Town

TAZMIN Brits knows the feeling of scoring an ODI century, but her 109 against India at the R Premadasa Stadium in Colombo on Tuesday was nothing like the other two.

For one thing, South Africa lost by 15 runs. When she made 118 against Bangladesh in Benoni in December 2023, the home side won by 216 runs. When she scored 116 i...

Thank the IPL for Markram’s success

Before he went to the IPL, Markram passed 50 three times in six innings. But that was over the course of a month. His successes in India have come in 19 days.

Telford Vice / Cape Town

WILL many South Africans give the IPL the credit for Aiden Markram’s return to form? Unlikely. For some of them the tournament is cricket’s Death Star, the thing that is going to kill the game as they know it.

That the conventional pyramid that puts international cricket at the top, and mere franchise le...

CSA v Warriors: mediator ends madness

“The recent dispute with the Warriors regarding administrative compliance has been amicably resolved.” – CSA

Telford Vice / Cape Town

NEED an embarrassing climbdown to sail safely under the radar? Announce it while a significant proportion of the intended audience is otherwise occupied. Like CSA did on Tuesday.

It was 6.35pm (South Africa time) when a release fluttered out of the ether. At that hour, cricketminded South Africans are in the gym, commuting home, fixing dinner or watchin...

Lhuan-dre Pretorius: 19 and all grown up

“He’s similar to Dewald Brevis; he’s in love with cricket. He just wants to play, whatever format it is. On rain days the two of them hit balls in the dressingroom. They just don’t stop.” – Richard das Neves, Titans interim coach, on Lhuan-dre Pretorius

Telford Vice / Cape Town

IF you were lucky enough to be among the partying 10,000 or so at Boland Park in Paarl on January 11 — or tuned your television to the relevant channel that day — you would have seen a sturdy young left-hander bif...

IPL showcases South Africa’s lesser-spotted strangers

Could Shukri Conrad whisper Anrich Nortjé back into whites for the WTC final against Australia at Lord’s in June?

Telford Vice / Cape Town

HELLO strangers! South Africans have forgotten what they look like, but not who they are. Quinton de Kock and Anrich Nortjé, that is, who haven’t played for their national team since the T20 World Cup final in Barbados in June.

South Africa have since been on the field 33 times — in eight Tests, 14 ODIs and 11 T20Is — without them. Yet De Kock has ...

Ready or not, here’s Jay Shah

“We took him everywhere from the media centre to the dressingroom to down the tunnel and onto the field.” – Lions chief executive Jono Leaf-Wright on Jay Shah’s fleeting visit.

Telford Vice / Cape Town

IT isn’t every day Jay Shah comes to town, but the Titans were prepared on Wednesday. They had laid out a carpet in BCCI blue, which flowed into a red carpet fit for VVIPs. A gala dinner awaited. Centurion was ready to receive the ICC chair and former BCCI secretary.

Except that all of ...

Temba tantrum follows communications lapse

“Bavuma experienced discomfort in his left elbow during a gym session earlier this week and, as a precaution, he is being rested for the first-class final.” – South Africa’s team management

Telford Vice / Cape Town

THE good news is Temba Bavuma won’t miss the WTC final in June in the wake of aggravating his longstanding elbow injury this week. The bad news is his withdrawal from the domestic first-class final wasn’t communicated in time to stop his captain from making a fool of himself.

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Does relegation promote South African cricket?

“Unfortunately it is the nature of our system that promotion and relegation has been implemented. It’s something we’ve all got to deal with.” – Dominic Hendricks

Telford Vice / Cape Town

DOMINIC Hendricks will captain the Lions in the final of CSA’s first-class competition against the Titans at the Wanderers from Thursday, but he knows how the Knights feel after being relegated for the second time in three seasons.

“It’s very difficult to deal with,” Hendricks, who played seven one-da...

Klaasen joins canaries in cricket’s contract coal mine

“Discussions regarding Heinrich Klaasen’s future are ongoing, and a final decision will be made in due course.” – CSA

Telford Vice / Cape Town

INTO the fold come David Bedingham, Kwena Maphaka, Wiaan Mulder, Kyle Verreynne and Lizaad Williams. Out go Bjorn Fortuin, Heinrich Klaasen, Andile Phehlukwayo and Tabraiz Shamsi.

But CSA’s list of contracted players for 2025/26 cannot be so easily summarised. For one thing, Rassie van der Dussen and David Miller have become the first signatori...

Down and dirty in Delhi’s sludgy, soupy, sooty, sour air

“It’s not a great place to be playing then because of the smog.” – Russell Domingo on Delhi in November and December.

Telford Vice / Cape Town

A member of the South African travelling party sleeping in his Delhi hotel room late one night during a men’s Test series in India in November and December 2015 was awoken by an alarming rasping noise.

Had some sort of insect crept in? Had an appliance gone on the fritz? Were tree branches being blown against the window? None of the above. 

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