Festive Buffalo Park
If there were any lingering discontent about the fact that Bangladesh's trek across South Africa would not take them across some of the iconic cricket grounds like Centurion, Wanderers or Kingsmead, then that should have been vanished by the stop at Buffalo Park in East London yesterday. On a breezy day, with not a cloud above to dull the luminescence of the African sky, there were many Bangladeshis in attendance -- not as dominating a presence as in Kimberley or Paarl -- but they would not have minded the thrashing meted out to their team too much. The atmosphere was too festive for that.
Apart from low, two-storey stands at either end of the ground, a small West Stand square of the wicket on one side and the big scoreboard opposite, the rest is just grass banks, and that is where the fun truly lies. There was a steel band performing through the South Africa innings, and they had a lot of occasions to get jamming as the Proteas kept finding the ropes and the stands. There was also a makeshift net with a bowling machine, behind which was a screen that showed Dale Steyn running up. When he completed the action the ball shot out through a hole where his hand whips past. Even in virtual reality, he is an intimidating prospect.
The best part however, was a kind of grass hill just to the left of the West Stand, and it must be one of the biggest grass banks around the world, rising a good three-storeys above ground level and at the top, you are 60 or 70 yards away from the boundary. From there, you can get a bird's eye view of the proceedings and beyond the ground, to the east, the Indian Ocean.
The string of results on tour so far do not make it seem an injustice anymore that Bangladesh were not given a billing high enough to warrant matches at some of the more renowned grounds, but it does seem an injustice that before yesterday there has been only two matches here for more than five years.
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