Telford Vice's Blog, page 24

Sophie Devine’s rhythm divine

South Africa didn’t have enough of the discipline that served them so well against Australia. Instead, they looked flat.

Telford Vice / Cape Town

LESS than a second remained on the countdown clock when Laura Wolvaardt, having consulted widely and patiently, asking her teammates about height in particular, turned and signalled to Nimali Perera in Dubai on Sunday. She wanted Perera’s turning down of Nadine de Klerk’s lbw shout for Sophie Devine’s wicket sent upstairs.

Wolvaardt’s calm w...

Headlines hang heavy over Bangladesh, South Africa Tests

“It’s a bit of a relief that we don’t have to face him.” – Aiden Markram on Shakib Al Hasan’s absence.

Telford Vice / Cape Town

SOME match previews are a chore to write. An angle needs to be conjured or contrived, followed by a few hundred words of conjecture that are likely to be proven mostly mistaken by the time the first ball is bowled. This isn’t one of those previews.

The first Test of Bangladesh’s series against South Africa was to have been Shakib Al Hasan’s grand farewell in ...

The player and the preacher: connecting Hansie Cronjé and Ray McCauley

Cronjé needed dishonesty to sate his thirst for dollars, which perhaps explains why he and McCauley seem to have understood each other so seamlessly from early in their relationship.

Telford Vice / Cape Town

REGARDLESS of whether you share the notions of the afterlife espoused by Hansie Cronjé and Ray McCauley, it’s tempting to wonder what they might have said to each other last week. They hadn’t spoken for more than 20 years, and there would have been so much to talk about.

We are of...

When South Africa were Aussiefied

As too many South Africa teams have learnt, emotion doesn’t win World Cups.

Telford Vice / Cape Town

THERE were two teams out there in green and gold at the Dubai International Stadium on Thursday, but only one of them played like Australia. And they weren’t Australia.

South Africa didn’t just beat the greatest team in the history of women’s cricket and among the alltime greatest in all of sport in their women’s T20 World Cup semifinal. They smashed them. They wiped the floor with the...

It’s too soon, but another Australia-South Africa showdown looms

“What? Serious? How? You’re lying! Serious?” – Nonkululeko Mlaba can’t quite believe South Africa are in the semifinals.

Telford Vice / Cape Town

WITH apologies to Prince and Sinead O’Connor, it’s been one year, seven months and 21 days. Or 599 days. Or 14,376 hours. Or 862,560 minutes. Or 51,753,600 seconds. At least, it will be when the first ball is bowled in the women’s T20 World Cup semifinal between Australia and South Africa in Dubai on Thursday.

In other words, it’s too soon. ...

South Africa’s Asian absence strengthens Bangladesh’s hand

“We’re always going to be playing catch-up because we play the least. It doesn’t even come up as a conversation anymore. We just get on with it.” – Shukri Conrad

Telford Vice / Cape Town

ABOUT all that connects Pretoria with Dhaka and Chattogram is that most men who live in those cities wear moustaches. Pretoria is 1,339 metres above sea level. Dhaka, on the lower reaches of the Ganges Delta, is at an altitude of four metres. Chattogram is at sea level on the coast of the Bay of Bengal.

...

No contract? No problem. Cricket’s coming revolution

“We’re moving from the vertical contractual world into the horizontal multi-hybrid world.” – Andrew Breetzke, South African Cricketers’ Association chief executive

Telford Vice / Cape Town

IT’S not yet a trend but there is no question that it is a trickle. Might it become a torrent? Tabraiz Shamsi added his name to it on Thursday, following the South African example set by Quinton de Kock and Anrich Nortjé.

Those players have declined to sign central contracts with CSA, South Africa’s...

South Africa overcome hattrick of hurt to seal series

Spooky symmetry in Temba Bavuma’s injured elbow.  

Telford Vice / Cape Town

“ALL the best to the Proteas women for their World Cup,” Temba Bavuma said, unprompted, at the toss in Abu Dhabi on Friday. It was a classy touch from a classy bloke, but he might have saved some good wishes for himself.

Maybe Bavuma used up all his luck by calling correctly, as he did in the first ODI at the same ground on Wednesday. So, as was the case then, the arduousness of bowling and fielding in the 37-...

Rugby rules for Ireland, South Africa cricket teams

“The celebration wasn’t hugely jubilant. It was a job well done rather than a huge upset.” – Paul Stirling on Ireland’s T20I win over South Africa.

Telford Vice / Cape Town

“IT’S almost like the whole world stops when the Springboks are playing,” Temba Bavuma told a press conference in Abu Dhabi on Tuesday. His compatriots would agree. South Africa’s rugby union team really do stop traffic and everything else. People watch them. A lot of people. And for good reason.

“That’s because th...

Will Shakib be at his South Africa Test farewell party?

“Bangladesh want to send Shakib Al Hasan out on a high, and he’d want to go out on a high. We’re there to spoil the party for them.” – Shukri Conrad

Telford Vice / Cape Town

TO South Africa will go the honour of playing the first international matches in Bangladesh since the fall of the despised government led by Sheikh Hasina. CSA confirmed on Monday that they had green lit two men’s Tests in Dhaka and Chattogram starting next month. Thereby hangs a context focused on no less a figure t...