Tuesday, January 03, 2006
The joy of cricket
451 and 54-3: these are very happy numbers to end the second day with, even if we did bat very slowly and seemed to have been the victims of some very poor decisions.
Also very heartening is news that Makhaya Ntini was named SA's most popular sportsman - the first time a cricketer has won this accolade. This makes me really happy, as do numbers showing that cricket is SA's second-most-popular sport, and isn't that far behind football. I (obviously) love the sport and have always wanted it to be the sport of all my countrymen; I think it's getting there. Two years ago, when Macca took 5 wickets at Lord's, there was a front-page picture of him kissing the turf -- I thought that did so much for the sport's cause in the country. Bryan Habana's tries are (maybe) doing something similar for rugby, but I still see it as a much less progressive, open sport. Incidentally, you may have been wondering why it's Bryan, not Brian - because he was named after Bryan Robson, his dad's favourite footballer. And his middle name is Gary, after Gary Bailey! I love it!
Also, a thought for Eddie Barlow, who died at 65. I never saw him play, but I always appreciated that he was one of the greats and both wore glasses and was somewhat overweight. There's a very touching tribute to him from Bangladesh.
Also very heartening is news that Makhaya Ntini was named SA's most popular sportsman - the first time a cricketer has won this accolade. This makes me really happy, as do numbers showing that cricket is SA's second-most-popular sport, and isn't that far behind football. I (obviously) love the sport and have always wanted it to be the sport of all my countrymen; I think it's getting there. Two years ago, when Macca took 5 wickets at Lord's, there was a front-page picture of him kissing the turf -- I thought that did so much for the sport's cause in the country. Bryan Habana's tries are (maybe) doing something similar for rugby, but I still see it as a much less progressive, open sport. Incidentally, you may have been wondering why it's Bryan, not Brian - because he was named after Bryan Robson, his dad's favourite footballer. And his middle name is Gary, after Gary Bailey! I love it!
Also, a thought for Eddie Barlow, who died at 65. I never saw him play, but I always appreciated that he was one of the greats and both wore glasses and was somewhat overweight. There's a very touching tribute to him from Bangladesh.
