The Rains Came Perhaps because I am more cussed than
the other critics, I enjoyed the dour strokeless bat- ting against excellently tight bowling which was the story of the first two innings at least as much as the dash for freedom on the fourth and fifth days. And as the scoring rates for both sides followed the same pattern in each innings, the pitch must take some of the blame. Certainly it played like a strip of cotton-wool until Saturday.
South Africa with Colin Bland (a Rhodesian, by the way) showing us at last his world-class form as both, batsman and fielder set England the formidable, almost insuperable, task of scoring 399 at a fast rate in the fourth innings. We shall never know if the task would have been accomplished if it had not been for a short severe rainstorm when England, with Cowdrey in full flow, needed 91 runs in 70 minutes. For what it's worth I think they would have squeezed home--if they had been given a chance. But it is a large 'if.' Unless the umpires intervene the run rate is governed by the over rate, and the over rate by the time it takes a fast bowler to walk back to his mark. I am afraid I thought Peter Pollock clearly at fault here. Perhaps one should blame Van der Merwe, his captain. Much the same thing happened at Lord's when. Pollock's bowling walk-speed reflected faithfully South Africa's varying chances of winning. It was the only sour note in an excellent series, and pro- bably on balance justice was done.
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