The loudest cheer of the day in Bristol on Sunday greeted the announcer confirming that drizzle had condemned South Africa’s World Cup warm-up game against West Indies to an early and unhappy end.
The clamour came from a bunch of children marooned on the boundary who had arrived excited to see exotic players in action and had instead been made to endure empty hours staring at the covers.
Moments later came the second-loudest cheer — from those kids’ parents, and others, who were informed by the public address man that they could claim a full refund for their tickets.
That was a good deal considering they had been significantly better entertained than is often the case when only 12.4 overs are bowled.
In that time, Hashim Amla cracked 51 not out — off 46 balls with eight fours and a six — to further answer any questions about his readiness for the tournament.
He scored 65 against Sri Lanka in Cardiff on Friday, but Sunday’s performance was significantly more fluent and authoritative.
Quinton de Kock also laid into the bowling for his 30-ball 37 not out, 28 of them in fours, and 95 runs flowed at 7.5 to the over despite the disjointedness.
Dreary rain swept across the Severn Estuary from Cardiff, where not a ball was bowled in the match between Bangladesh and Pakistan, and first halted the action after 8.2 overs.
Those 50 balls turned out to be the longest stretch of uninterrupted play.
Only seven deliveries were bowled after the resumption before the dreary trickle returned and the covers came back on.
They stayed on for more than three-and-a-half hours, during which there were several aborted attempts to remove them. Each time the groundstaff started tugging at the tarpaulin, the weather gods smirked and sent just enough of the damp stuff to keep cricket off the field.
It was damned unfair on Sean Williams and his staff, who had delivered a belter of a pitch and slick outfield.
When the game got going again, 20 balls were sent down before the umpires had to take the players off again, this time for good.
And, as often happens in these situations, less than an hour after the abandonment the ground was bathed in sunshine.
The mach was South Africa’s last match preparation before they play the tournament opener against England at the Oval on Thursday.
They would have liked another look at their bowlers, what with them having asked more questions than they answered in Cardiff.
But, like life, the World Cup doesn’t work like that.
It’s coming, ready or not.
Rain has last say as Proteas wrap up World Cup preparations
Image: Alex Davidson/Getty Images
The loudest cheer of the day in Bristol on Sunday greeted the announcer confirming that drizzle had condemned South Africa’s World Cup warm-up game against West Indies to an early and unhappy end.
The clamour came from a bunch of children marooned on the boundary who had arrived excited to see exotic players in action and had instead been made to endure empty hours staring at the covers.
Moments later came the second-loudest cheer — from those kids’ parents, and others, who were informed by the public address man that they could claim a full refund for their tickets.
That was a good deal considering they had been significantly better entertained than is often the case when only 12.4 overs are bowled.
In that time, Hashim Amla cracked 51 not out — off 46 balls with eight fours and a six — to further answer any questions about his readiness for the tournament.
He scored 65 against Sri Lanka in Cardiff on Friday, but Sunday’s performance was significantly more fluent and authoritative.
Quinton de Kock also laid into the bowling for his 30-ball 37 not out, 28 of them in fours, and 95 runs flowed at 7.5 to the over despite the disjointedness.
Dreary rain swept across the Severn Estuary from Cardiff, where not a ball was bowled in the match between Bangladesh and Pakistan, and first halted the action after 8.2 overs.
Those 50 balls turned out to be the longest stretch of uninterrupted play.
Only seven deliveries were bowled after the resumption before the dreary trickle returned and the covers came back on.
They stayed on for more than three-and-a-half hours, during which there were several aborted attempts to remove them. Each time the groundstaff started tugging at the tarpaulin, the weather gods smirked and sent just enough of the damp stuff to keep cricket off the field.
It was damned unfair on Sean Williams and his staff, who had delivered a belter of a pitch and slick outfield.
When the game got going again, 20 balls were sent down before the umpires had to take the players off again, this time for good.
And, as often happens in these situations, less than an hour after the abandonment the ground was bathed in sunshine.
The mach was South Africa’s last match preparation before they play the tournament opener against England at the Oval on Thursday.
They would have liked another look at their bowlers, what with them having asked more questions than they answered in Cardiff.
But, like life, the World Cup doesn’t work like that.
It’s coming, ready or not.
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