da esoccer bet： Potchefstroom is a tranquil University town, 75 miles south-west of Johannesburg, and the sort of place that does exactly what it says on the tin, says Andrew Miller
Roving Reporter by Andrew Miller in Potchefstroom11-Dec-2004
The bright lights of Potchefstroom …© Getty Images
Potchefstroom is a tranquil university town, 75 miles south-west ofJohannesburg, and the sort of place that does exactly what it says on thetin. The local river Mooi (meaning “nice” in Afrikaans) is very agreeablethank you, while Sedgars Park, the regional cricket stadium, is aperfectly proportioned oval, with grassy banks all around to allow amplespreading room for the local cricket aficionados.If the local steakhouses are anything to go by, that room for manoeuvre isan essential factor. This is a town where the portions are “man-size” andthe men have accents as thick as cow-hide. But that’s not to say thateveryone is falling out of their belts as they wander down the street,however. Sport is far too big a factor in the local lifestyle for that, asthe town’s skyline makes abundantly clear.There are no dreaming spires to adorn this university. Instead the keylandmarks are a selection of towering floodlights, easily visible from theoutskirts of town as you roll off the highveld, which mark the local rugbyand cricket grounds, as well as the internationally renowned Fanie du Toitathletics academy.It all seems a million miles from the high-walled hubbub of Jo’burg, withits malls and mayhem and undulating urban layout, and the hour-and-a-halfjourney between the two venues underlines that difference. Apparently, atany given moment, there is a thunderstorm taking place somewhere on thehighveld, but rather like that old philosophical chestnut about the treefalling in the woods, one wonders if there is anyone living out there towitness them.A smattering of homesteads line the arrow-straight N12 highway, whichheads onwards and outwards into the vast, spacious interior of the FreeState. Many of these offer the hungry traveller an opportunity to samplesome authentic sun-baked biltong, South Africa’s brand of beef jerky, butthey are so few and far between that you are more likely to come across alay-by stall selling hub-caps to Johannesburg’s dispossessed motorists.The motoring theme continues at the cricket ground itself. The SedgarsPark wicket is such an unforgiving strip of tarmac that it is knownlocally as “The Road” by North-West’s disgruntled seamers, and the wayAndrew Strauss climbed into the bowling on the opening morning of thematch suggested that it would be a long hot day in the sun for SouthAfrica A.Strauss’s deeds were greeted with appropriate glee by the small knot ofEngland fans at square leg, the Barmy Army’s expeditionary force ahead ofthe Port Elizabeth Test. Their anticipated influx has alarmed the UnitedCricket Board, which has been running adverts on the local TV channels,urging their fans to turn out in force for the Tests.These ads have featured a rowdy England fan being silenced by theadministering of a ripe grapefruit from point-blank range, under theslogan: “There are better ways to stop the Barmy Army.” There certainlyare, although not all of them involve the use of local vocal chords. Itremains to be seen how many England fans will be present at PortElizabeth, following the untimely collapse of the budget airline, Civair, which had been due to ferry them over en masse this week.Such considerations were a world away at Potchefstroom, however, as thetownsfolk dozed in the shade and England’s batsmen tested themselvesagainst their first meaningful opposition of the winter. It’s been a long,slow build-up to this series, but with temperatures in the middleapproaching 37 degrees, the heat is being turned up for England, one notchat a time.Andrew Miller is assistant editor of Cricinfo. He will be following England throughout their Test series in South Africa.