And only the fifth loss since 1992, the previous four against Australia. St Stato can see more here. https://www.crictracker.com/south-africa-vs-england-2019-20-2nd-test-statistical-preview/
South Africa captain Faf du Plessis: "What an advertisement for Test cricket. It's sad to to be on the losing side. All I asked for was a team effort and we fought hard. There has to a winner. "Credit to England, they had a little bit more in the tank than we had."
Brilliant - reminds me of the 20 over games we had after work up in Petersfield. We once had a batsman nearly run out because his trousers fell down whilst he was between the wickets. The bowler was laughing so much he missed the ball when it was thrown in
Funniest thing I was ever involved with was playing in my brother’s pub team. My bro was made to bowl, and his first delivery consisted of him tripping up as he hit the bowling crease and launching the ball almost vertically upwards. The ball must have reached about 50 feet in the air before looping over the batsman’s head and crashing into the bails. The umpire was in hysterics and gave the batsman out.
Below is part of an article from the BBC about the health issues affecting Jack Leach. Jack Leach will return home from England's tour of South Africa following the left-arm spinner's struggle with illness. Leach missed the final Test against New Zealand in November with sepsis and has not featured in South Africa after suffering gastroenteritis and flu. Leach, who also has Crohn's Disease, will fly home on Thursday. Poor Jack Leach seems to have had a horrendous time on tour and I wish him a speedy recovery, but Chris Silverwood's comments could have been phrased a bit better. "He is a great lad to have around the squad and his infectious personality and popularity will be missed."
Ridiculously cheap tickets to the 100 for county members. I can get to all four home matches, in the gold category, for £40.
Bums on seats. There is a hell of a lot of this oñe day stuff, and as people do not have an infinite supply of money, this move makes sense.
Looks like Mark Wood will replace Jimmy tomorrow, Jofra still isn’t fit. https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/cricket/51121880
England 61-0 at lunch after winning the toss. Slowish progress on a flat pitch but there is some spin from Maharaj. Good concentration from Sibley and Crawley.
I hope the new players in the England team have a great Game and can cement their place in the line-up long term. Si if Wood gets a five wicket haul in one of the innings, it would be hard to drop him for the 4th test.