Twists and turns as England show spirit on South African adventure

England and South Africa are having a well-earned rest after two enthralling back-to-back Tests before resuming the action at the New Wanderers Stadium in Johannesburg on Thursday. The live TV coverage fits in perfectly for me Adelaide time with the events unfolding just after tea time and going into the late evening. After England’s ruthless destruction job in the first Test victory in Durban then Ben Stokes and Jonny Bairstow going doolalee to set up a humongous platform in the Cape Town Test, it looked like it was gonna be unexpected merriment right though the series. But the stubborn Hashim Amla led a staunch fightback. In the end England were hanging on for dear life to prevent themselves sliding to an incredible defeat. Where we go from here is anybody’s guess because the South African have put themselves back in the picture for the final two Tests. The closing day had horrible echoes of Adelaide 2006 when England lost the unloseable Test after Shane Warne’s jiggery-pokery set off a batting debacle that proved impossible to reverse. That remains one of my greatest sporting traumas. At least they were able to stop the nosedive this time — just. I had feared the worst. Cape Town looks a magnificent venue to watch cricket. I have never taken in a South African trip. I have always wanted to but was put off some years ago by the words of former Sunday Times and Sunday Business colleague Graham Otway. Otters is a seasoned sports scribe and veteran of many overseas cricket tours. But he only had words of warning for me in terms of a gig to the new post-Apartheid nation. “Dave, it would not be your scene,” he said. “You can’t go wandering around the pubs of Joburg after a day’s play. You will either be robbed or someone will put a machete in your head. It’s dangerous.” That warning from Otters really put me off. I’m a passive pub crawler. I don’t do confrontations. As ex-Advertiser sage Pete O’Connor always says: “I won my last fight by 200 yards.” In previous years I had met up for an English Test match in Barbados with Otters. No problems there as the natives were some of the friendliest people I have ever me. “Hey, man we’re gonna have a big party,” said my taxi driver as I exited Bridgetown airport after plane load after plane load of thousands of English fans had made the same journey. Home advantage seems so crucial in modern Test so if England were to pull off a series victory, it would be something worth talking about. At least they are making a go of it, which is more than you can say for the West Indies who meekly turned down Australia’s offer of a contrived run chase to try to set up some kind of finish in the rain-ruined Sydney Test. With all the hullabaloo of the big Bash and the fuss over Chris Gayle’s smutty chit-chat dominating the airwaves, it would have been worth watching. The twists and turns of the Cape Town Test still proved to me that the five-day format delivers. I take a passing interest in the Big Bash but give me the real thing any day.

Curtly Ambrose’s straight talking could ignite a festive cracker in Hobart Test

As Pete O’Connor, my former colleague on The Advertiser in Adelaide, used to say: “You should always have something on the horizon that you are looking forward to.” And Pete’s right. That could mean anything from a visit to the pub or some other form of social interaction that has necessitated some kind of pre-planning. In my case, it could involve a sporting occasion (either as neutral or as a committed follower). A musical excursion also fits the bill. Around this time of year there are numerous social distractions to pencil in for future reference. However, some dates way down the track for me came with the publication the English county cricket fixtures last week. With Lancashire back in Division One, it was time to scan the newly available schedule for promising tussles during fancied flights back to the UK for the northern hemisphere summer. Luckily this time the whole of August has not been abandoned to Twenty20 or one-day requirements. Two stand-outs were the home Championship contest against Yorkshire at Old Trafford from July 13. As an “old school” dinosaur, four-day games take priority so if the sun shines, what better attraction than tackling the old White Rose enemy from the wrong side of the Pennines. I have usually witnessed these traditional bouts of cricketing combat in the initial stages when the attrition is at its most severe with each side striving for an early advantage. In my youth these games were even televised on the old Granada network complete with Fred Trueman attempting some unbiased commentary. Sometimes the BBC stepped in for some coverage with the erudite Richie Benaud sometimes seeming baffled by the “ït’s nowt to do wi thee’’ attitude of the respective combatants. One time in the early 1990s I did manage to see the conclusion a four-day encounter under blue Mancunian skies as Wasim Akram blew away the fragile resistance of the Yorkshire tail for a Red Rose rout. I was in raptures as I pointed out what was going on to visiting Kiwi mate Rod Carr. All this pondering may seem a long way in the future but with 2016 just round the corner and the years flying by ever quicker, it’s time to follow the O’Connor doctrine and plan ahead. August 23 sees another staple of the English cricketing calendar – this time a true North v South encounter with southerners Surrey at home to Lancashire. The Oval is one of my favourite venues and according to mad Surrey fan Pete Wilson is in the middle of a radical overhaul. So if I can make it along to sample the action with Pete, it will be interesting to see what shape it is in. Before then there is the hurly-burly of Christmas and the New Year in the offing. In the midst of office parties and potential pub meet-ups, there is another cricketing event on TV. Until as couple of days ago I was barely going to give the opening Australia v West Indies Test in Hobart a second glance because the Caribbean visitors had been turned over by a bunch of under-19s in a warm-up game. They seemed barely interested in the upcoming series, with Australia installed as raging favourites. But since then a certain Curtly Ambrose, the West Indies legend who is now their bowling coach, has laid into the doubters on Aussie shores and told his young pace bowlers to savour the situation and target the soft underbelly of Australia’s middle order batting. Thanks for stirring things up, Curtly. It may be a contest after all. Maybe I don’t have to gaze six or seven months hence for my cricketing fix. I suddenly have something to look forward to much nearer to my home base. We will see if Curtly’s battle cry and stinging words can rustle up some festive fervour.