How cheering to realise that, as winter decides to make itself properly felt, the world of cricket has given us a series of half-volleys outside the off stump to keep our interest thrumming. First up, three great matches – the second Test at the unpronounceable Gqeberha between South Africa and Australia, and two extraordinary 50-over matches in Pakistan which England contrived to lose from seemingly impregnable positions. We have seen two magnificent innings, from Temba Bavuma and Harry Brook, while ‘Sandpaper Dave’ Warner took the opportunity to slag off Test cricket on the anniversaryof his cheating in Cape Town eight years ago. Finally, Sir Jimmy Anderson was sacked by Lancashire with especially graceless timing.
Bavuma came to the crease at 12 for two but he kept at it and drove his team to 425 for nine
Bavuma’s superb 179 at Gqeberha is one of the greatest Test innings. He came to the crease at 12 for two and wickets fell all around him. South Africa slumped to 40 for four, but the diminutive Bavuma kept at it and, helped along by Marco Jansen’s 85 and Simon Harmer’s 82, drove his team to 425 for nine. Bavuma’s leadership is really something to be celebrated, the South Africans are World Test champions after all. His first Test century came at Newlands a decade ago with double tons for Hashim Amla and Ben Stokes and a maiden century for Jonny Bairstow. Bavumalater said that being continually sledged by Stokes made him more determined to score a heap of runs. He is a real treasure of Test cricket.
Anyway, back to Gqeberha, and the second Test of the current series. The Aussies lost by an innings – and of course no one likes to see that – but it was at this point that ‘Sandpaper Dave’ decided to weigh in on the poor crowds at the first two Tests. ‘We keep hearing about how important Test cricket is but where are the fans in South Africa? Empty stands, no atmosphere and we’re supposed to believe the format is thriving… Pathetic.’ Well, thanks Dave. He had a point: the crowds were terrible, but maybe the old cheater could have encouraged South African cricket to cut ground prices?
Harry Brook’s 200 at Rawalpindi was the fastest double-ton in one-day cricket and should have been enough to beat Sri Lanka and have a chance of making the final of a tasty series. But improbably the Sri Lankans chased down 430. It sometimes seems England don’t quite know what to do with 50-over games: batting first meant the bowlers had dew to contend with, Joe Root has made only 107 in three innings and the decision to drop Rashid for the next match, when Pakistan beat England after an epic last wicket stand, was baffling. Is Brook a good captain? Discuss. Still, England are out of it now. Deservedly so.
I thought Yorkshire were meant to be the tough guys, but Lancashire’s decision to chop Sir Jimmy Anderson was brutal. No farewells, no nothing, despite the former captain’s 25-year association with the county. ‘If it was up to me it wouldn’t have ended like this, but I wish the players and fans all the best for the future,’ said Anderson generously. But maybe Lancashire could bend a little and give him a match-by-match deal.
The former king of Manchester may be ensconced in No. 10 but the clubs which did so much to make the mayorality a success are embedded in the mire. United are a team of players you wouldn’t recognise in the pub, and how much do they really care for the club? Think back to United teams of the 1970s and 1980s: Norman Whiteside, Bryan Robson, Mark Hughes, Kevin Moran… you felt pretty certain they cared for their club. And there’s poor Michael Carrick, marooned mournfully on the touchline in his quarter-zip jumper watching the debacle unfold and patting his heart. He will, sadly, be toast before long.
As for City, if the Premier League is going to do something, just do it now. Drop them to League One, where they can be entertained by my team Oxford United at the Kassam, and generate capacity crowds in the most unlikely of places. They will quickly zoom back up the leagues and at least we can get on with things.
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