"Honestly, we really like each other..."
1965 - 2003
Jul 22-27, 1965. First Test: South Africa 280 and 248; England 338 and 145/7. Match drawn.Heavy scoring by SA on the first day looked to have set-up a cracker, but the rain fell on day two and, with Boycott in bat, all chance of a result went right out of the window. Ken Barrington deserves a mention for his 91, and Ali Bacher, partly responsible for the Rebel Tours of the 80s, made his debut for SA. On the first day, a few miles across London, Edward Heath succeeded Alec Douglas-Hume as leader of the Conservatives.
Jul 21-24, 1994. First Test: South Africa 357 and 278/8d; England 180 and 99. South Africa won by 356 runs.It was almost inevitable that, on the first Test between these teams for 29 years, England would get smashed. No batsman scored more than 50, and only Darren Gough deserves a mention, taking 4 for 76 in between Kepler Wessels' 105 and
Allan Donald's 5 for 74. While the second day of this Test saw O.J. Simpson plead "absolutely, 100% not guilty" to a double murder charge.
Jun 18-22, 1998. Second Test: South Africa 360 and 15/0; England 110 and 264 (f/o). South Africa won by 10 wickets.Oh the memories. There we were, all excited after Dominic Cork took 6 for 119, only to watch yet another shocking capitulation by the supposed batsmen. In short, the extras column top scored with 20 as Donald took another five-for. I mean FFS, they're called nets, use them. Nasser Hussain clawed back some dignity with a ton in the second innings, but the fat lady had worked her way though the entire Top 40 by then. Over in San Francisco, on the final day of this Test, Lee Janzen held off Payne Stewart to win the 98th US Open.
Jul 31-Aug 3, 2003. Second Test: England 173 and 417; South Africa 682/6d. South Africa won by an innings and 92 runs.If 98 was bad then there is yet to be a word invented for this. A second innings 142 from Flintoff was as good as it got as Graeme Smith bludgeoned a first innings 259. Only James Anderson, taking 2-90, was not completely embarrassed. Oh, unless you count Ashley Giles holding his end up with 1 for 142. Spinner my arse. And in New York on the final day, the pedestal of the Statue of Liberty reopened for the first time since 9/11.
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