England had two one day warm up matches in Paarl against a South African Invitation XI at the beautiful Eurolux Boland Park stadium. We attended both days in an atmosphere closer to village cricket but with temperatures in the mid 30s.
For periods on both days the scoreboards and tannoy system were out of action due to “load shedding” – a system whereby different districts lose electricity in rotation for a couple of hours each to protect the grid. The England supporters attempted to keep score either in their heads or on scraps of paper, however for some even keeping track of the wickets was a challenge after a few beers. England won the first match and sort of lost the second match. Roy scored a century on day one and Bairstow the same on day two, however Tim is sure he retired on 99 !
Shilli-Fully Travels 