Spinner's tales - Tales of an unhappy Lara watcher

They got pretty friendly (the locals that is) and by day two had issued any number of invitations to the colourful troupe from the breezy Caribbean who managed to stick it out: Durban, Cape Town and Centurion became warm, friendly places, and not because of the temperature, either.

There were a couple of hitch-hikers among them and Sally Memphis and her friend ``Jones'' saw more of the country than even most South Africans. But there's noting unusual about that. They've been hiking around half the world watching the West Indies since 1985. Sally's from Trinidad and ``Jones'' from Jamaica and they were married in Sydney on the 1988/89 tour. Now they are thinking of ``retiring'' until Brian Lara quits. (''Give us a chance to start a family'').

And, once you manage to carve through their broad Caribbean patois, you gathered they are hoping Lara's retirement would be soon.

The Wanderers was too cold and had an atmosphere ``as hospitable as a shapeless vest'' and apart from the steel band, there was little to cheer anyone; St George's Park was dreary and empty and by the end of day three even spending time at some beach had lost it's attraction. Drowning their sorrows in a pub at the Duck Pond end also had no appeal.

Such is the misery of supporters following a team which not only keeps on losing but finds new ways of doing it as well. And, to rub it in, the supporters received little recognition from the side. Then Lara writes how they (the team) want all the support they can get (from supporters at home). Bit of a slap in the face for those who are here; as crass as the comment Martin Baillie made when referring to a group of women supporters (Salsoc) as ``screaming aunties''.

As a group the South African Ladies Supporters of Cricket, are less rowdy than most spectators.

By the time Sally and ``Jones'' had arrived at Centurion, where they stayed in a comfy B&B not far from the centre, they were still wondering if they had enough dollars to do the one-dayers (slogs). But after another four-day capitulation decided it would be better to cut their losses, spend a week in Cape Town and head home and give the Australian series a miss as well. Which is quite a statement for this engaging couple.

Sure they liked Centurion. And the ground had the best view of them all. As for the crowd they felt it was better than most (except Newlands) and the Sunday ``gates closed'' effort was by far the best, except for the wave.

So, why did more people pack into SuperSport Centurion than any other ground on any day of the series? It started in 1982 when Dr Willie Basson (then president) and Alan Jordaan (his deputy) had a dream to introduce the game to the Afrikaans community. It has taken 16 years to develop a cricket culture and support from the community. Perhaps it is time the politicians also learnt the value of the lesson of evolution not revolution theory: it is not too late.