| The next morning we were
treated to the Cullinan Inn buffet breakfast. An army of hotel staff with military
precision provided the slickest breakfast experience ever. Some waited by the door to
guide you to the table, others waited by the tables to ask if you wanted tea or coffee,
one fried eggs, another omelettes, still others were on hand to answer queries about the
food or whisk your empty plates away at the slightest sign of finishing. All called me
‘Sir’ and were extremely polite. This was service in style. The one striking
thing about the hotel was the high numbers of staff. We were both amazed at the numbers
and thought what dull jobs they must be. We filled up on all the food we could manage
whilst we discussed the day's activities. We caught a taxi to the Waterfront and continued our browsing through the many shops. The sun was blazing and the top of Table Mountain was clear. This was going to be a red hot day. We booked a harbour cruise and set off in the sunshine. The highlight of the tour were the Cape fur seals, who basked in every nook and cranny of the harbour. Some reclined in old tyres on the harbour walls and made all the right moves for the inevitable photo shoot. Lisa was delighted with them as they wallowed in the water, lazily lifting a flipper into the air to catch the heat of the sun. The harbour area looked resplendent set against the back drop of Table Mountain. In the early afternoon we joined the transfer coach to the cricket match at Newlands. It was the one day match England V. South Africa. The match started at 2.30 p.m. and the coach driver was to pick us up at 10.30 p.m. The coached crawled through the cricket traffic and gave us another chance to sample the more exclusive suburbs of Cape Town. Beautiful houses lined the route and their colourful gardens were filled with an abundance of flowers. My thoughts returned to the people in the shacks and their miserable existence. I was beginning to see what this apartheid thing had all been about. Newlands cricket ground was exceptionally picturesque. The towering stands were fast filling with supporters. Soon the England cricket team came onto the pitch to a loud cheer, but the South African batsmen received the greatest support. It was a funny old thing this cricket, long periods of little happening then suddenly a batsman was bowled out or hit a six and the crowd cheered in excitement. It took sometime to learn not to look away from the match. Lisa missed three batsmen being dismissed by idly glancing away for a second. In between the overs, music extracts from pop songs were played, much to the annoyance of some of the more staid cricket fans. As the day wore on, a very good feeling came over me. There was something special about travelling all this way to such an exquisite place and watching my home country play. I really wanted them to win so much. At the break we met up with more of the people who had come on our cricketing tour. The company running the tour was called Sport Abroad and most had come out to South Africa earlier than us to see the fifth test and go on safari at the Kruger National Park. When play resumed, the tension had increased by a considerable degree. No signs of an empty seat anywhere; later on it was announced the crowd was over 20,000. The barmy army were chanting louder and bawdier songs. The South African supporters on our stand were increasingly vocal, especially when a hapless English batman was dismissed. A tumultuous Mexican wave surged around the stadium. Each time it circulated, more items were thrown into the air and the cheering became louder and louder. Copious amounts of beer were being consumed. Castle lager was the local brew at just under six Rand a pint. As night fell, the night sky looked so black against the blazing floodlights. England soldiered on, the cheering got louder and more ecstatic. Now the reserved hand clap was no longer enough. Soon I was jumping to my feet and cheering for England. The match was going to be very close. The overs were all but finished and the old English grit was coming through. England were going for it. I yelled ‘ENGLAND’ as loud as I could - the guys in the seats in front reeled forward. Then Reid hit a six at the eleventh hour; England might make it yet. I jumped to my feet throwing my arms as high as I could in the air, cheering again and again. If this is cricket -wow it’s great! Then just as it looked like we might win, it was all over - England had lost by one run. The whole of the crowd were on their feet and I was shaking hands with South Africans congratulating them on their success. Lisa had enjoyed it just as much. This was our first experience of cricket and something quite special. We walked back to the coach discussing what might have been. On boarding the coach a group of Sport Abroad fans said, ‘We saw you!’ and for a moment I thought maybe I had gone a bit over the top. But hey, so what, this is cricket South African style and I like it. |