Slave

The stats I looked at showed that 112 cyclists died in Britain in 2012. No stats are available for South Africa for the same period. In 2010, 252 cyclists were killed in South Africa. Considering that the population of London alone is probably about the same number as that of South Africa, this tells me a few things: 1) that cycling awareness in Britain is more effective than here. Or 2) possibly that there are less cyclists in Britain. I'm not sure which way to lean on this one given British weather but logic tells me higher population, probably means more cyclists on the road. The problem in SA is (as I see it) a simply a lack of accountability, a (mostly) useless traffic police and SAPS contingent and a criminal justice system that is pathetic at best. I see people daily, driving in excess of a 100 KPH on the freeway and they are busy with their phones. Mostly texting but many talking on their phones while metro hide behind pillars with cameras speed checking. So because nothing gets done, the perps are unaccountable for their actions and because the law is not enforced, more people do it. Roadblocks and speed checking will never address this problem. Then if caught, the disincentive isn't nearly strong enough. Due to corruption, the perp may even pay a couple of hundred to the officer and drive away without any consequences. How to fix this is a matter of opinion.

For what its worth a protest ride closing down Jan Smuts avenue and other roads is not going to get the support we want for safer cycling causes. It will merely irritate motorists more than they are and further allienate them and create more tention between motorists and cyclists. Petitions and getting the media more involved will do more. And perhaps if we arrange a mass demonstration outside the African National Criminals offices at Lithuli house will have more effect. So what we should be doing is getting everyone we know to vote against the ANC. If that fails burn their buildings down because that's the only language the ANC understand.

Lara does hold the record for the highest number of runs in an innings. 400 not out. He also comes in 3rd again with 375. Sachin has the highest number of 100's. With Kallis on 44

Ok just checked. He amassed 11953 during his career. Sachin is on 15600 odd

Where doe Brian Lara feature?

If I recall correctly Dale, Sachin Tendulkar has gone passed 15000 test runs. But yes it is quite an achievement. He is in elite company.

Another 50 for king Kallis.

186 for 2.

Kinh Kallis has now gone past 13000 test runs. Well done that man.

Well done captain Fatty. Awesome run there. Happy new year Hubbers.

Very well done to the flower power boys (AKA Mrs Smiths team.) I didn't think the win would be as convincing as it was and you proved me wrong. For once, I am liking the taste of 'humble pie'. AB and Hash were so hot they were on fire. Faf was fabulous. And the less said about Dean the better. Can't wait to see the series on home turf against the black-caps and Pakkies.

Back then we had to have good bowlers. Our batsmen weren't much good. Mrs Hudson and Mrs Cullinan..... Now we have Mrs Fatty Smith.

And I as I was composing my last post, I see Watson is out. Whooooo hoooooooo

Huh? Two down. My scoreboard is not updating... I agree, Warner is (can be) a devastating batsman. (Kinda like Mrs Hudson and Mrs Cullinan when they were on song. Pity they couldn't hold the notes for too long though.....) Glad he is gone. Clarke still to come. I hope our bowlers have figured the way to take his wicket early and cheap. Could be a long day in the field tomorrow chasing leather if he gets going.

Way back when, in the days of white lightning and vinnige Fanie, we could maybe defend a low score. Granted Dale is the top ranked bowler and Morkel is also up there with Vern in the top ten so maybe, they can bowl us back into the game. BUT, they are going to have to bowl their boots off. Who knows, maybe my rant was premature and runs are hard to come by on this pitch. (Don't think so though.) For the rest of this match, I think we are the ones doing the chasing. Another coupe of days and we will get some kind of idea of where it's all headed. The ebb and flow of the sessions.. Sessions, 1, 2, and three go the way of the hosts. Now we dig deep and try to come back into the game.

Rant on What a dismal performance with the bat. Seems that only Faf has made any show of resistance. Fatty fails again, Kallis out for 2, Amla RUN OUT??? And Div only made 4. Kinda makes one laugh doesn't it. (well it might if it was really funny). We definitely deserve the title of "Chokers" even though they only accept that in the one day format of the game. Far too often, we stage these massive middle order collapses and I wonder that we actually currently hold the position of top ranked test side. I think I'll rather go ride my bike this weekend than pay any further attention to such mediocrity. To make a go of this game, we needed someone to score big and it looks like Faf won't even get to 100 never mind the 200 that we needed. Well done blomme boys. You sure didn't cover yourselves in glory this time around. Only way to rescue this would be for us to bowl Ausie out for less than 200. You cannot win a test match if you can't face 90 overs and bat out the first day without bleeding wickets. Rant off

Yeah, and crap music at that. But still better than the cricket.

Because we are playing against the best side in the world. On paper, we are better, but then when it comes to SA cricket, paper means jack ****. So either runs are very hard to come by due to some snakes in the pitch, or the Ausie bowlers are bowling their boots off, or we are once again putting in a mediocre performance with the bat. Someone who is watching this, please update me. Is the pitch full of snakes and venom, or are we just putting up a pathetic performance? Edit: Just checked the scoreboard: HOW do you get RUN OUT in a test Match FFS???? Second time for Amla IIRC.

I saw that one and also while out riding yesterday, saw some headline about half a Kallis is better than none. Oh and that Keppler puts his money on an SA win. I wish I could be that confident about this but a couple of things worry me: If Kallis is not OK, he will not be given a runner if he hurts himself again. So he may go cheaply where maybe a fitter batsman MIGHT be able to socre more runs. He will most likely not be able to bowl and he may be hampered in the field. Who is Kepper anyway? (He once captained Austrailiand came home to SA as a reject Ausie to become the SA captain during our readmission to Cricket. He may once have been good, but I don't buy his prediction. Never (EVER) write the Ausies off. They are known to fight to the bitter end. And then fight on long after that. Too many if's and buts about tomorrows game. It's a funny old game this and I hope we win. When the las ball is bowled, we will know. Before then, with all going well, we can look forward to five days of fine cricket. The best outcome we can have is that we win the toss, and bat for three days so that in that time Kallis can get stronger and recover more. (Hopefully Fatty will not lose (or throw away his wicket) and Hasim can score a double or tripple ton. Then we bowl them out twice and win by an innings and..... But then again, maybe I should just go and have some more of that whacky twacky and dream on. It's going to be a good game if we get it all in without rain and bad light. Good game Blomme boys. Put them roo dis-tings to the sword. I eagerly await tomorrow. May even forgo some sleep and listen to it on the radio. Nice article of Faf.

Yeah, thats the one.

No pressure from the selectors then Ricky?? You sure?? It was a good career for sure and he will be remembered as one of the greats of the game. We may not all like him, but we have to respect that he was a good batsman and made many a team quail with his willow. He was without doubt a prolific run scorer. Heck, he may even have been a good captain. So who's going to be his replacement?

What happened to de Lange? Seems we get some new potential, they play a game or two and then disappear. Names like Dave Rindel (who scored 169 not out against Aus at Wanderers), Marchant who bowled very well last year and a few others. Justin Kemp was another almost starter. He could hit a bal, and bowl. Played a few games and then nix. Granted, these are all one day game starters I'm talking about. Personally, I think this game is too important to SA for us to screw around. If Kallis is not 100% fit, then he shouldn't be in the line-up. Unless of course, we win the toss, bat for 4 days and then bowl the roo bonkers out in a couple of sessions. (Hey, I can dream too.)

You're correct of course. He is better than Keppler and especially after Keppler returned to SA as captain and opening bat. And then of course we had Mrs. Hudson, who also had some good averages and went backwards from there. I guess maybe I should just stop watching cricket because it seems that when I do, Fatty falls over cheap. Having said that, I agree that he has talent. I just never seem to see him on a good day. And I wonder if Clarkie will make another double ton come Friday. I seriously think we should have klapped the Ausies in both games so far instead of it being the other way around. Doesn't matter that the scoreline showed a draw, we were comprehensively beaten on both counts, only just managing to save a draw. Then again, I think that's a step in the right direction. Our previous records will show spectacular collapses and not even being able to manage a draw.

There I fixed it for ya. Ja-ja. Nice to dream, but remember one thing. We are dealing with the Ausies here. They may not have the best team on paper, but they have sheer guts and determination and a never quit attitude. Doesn't mean I like 'em. It just means that they are tough to beat. One other thing is that Ponting may be out and one thing Aus have is depth. They may also have a new face or two. That's another thing about cricket: It aint over till it's over! Friday will just be the start, and barring rain, bad light, granny's headache and other match interruptions, the game may run the full five days. Then we will know. And while we're about it, maybe someone can come up with someone to replace Fatty.

'k, now this wanting AB to "keep" makes sense to me that it didn't before. Yeah, it's going to be very tough to fill JK's shooz. He is not just an exceptional batsman, he is a damn good bowlers as well. A few years ago, I was listening to some cricket analyst on the radio and they drew a parallel between the careers of one Jakes Kallis and one Ricky Ponting. Ponting had a good record and when he was appointed captain, his run scoring went nto another dimension and he went on to eclipse JK in the number of runs scored (I think they were both around 9000 test runs at that point.) Something about this didn't compute until now. (YEah, I know, I am old a slow with a capital F. Even on my bike. Think it's time I retired from all forms of the game......) Kallis is an all rounder. Ponting is a batsman. And his form of late is great for us..... (Both of them. I love it when we can Ponting out cheap, and he went dirt cheap in this series.)