Hilton Tarrant pleaded in an article on MoneyWeb for Eskom to apply load-shedding on a daily basis until May in order to do the urgently required maintenance to prevent unexpected down times.
I want to support him in this.
If we can all bite the bullet for the next 8 days, maybe there will be sufficient power stored to allow us to watch the ICC Cricket World Cup without interruption.
Better still: plan load-shedding around the Proteas’ fixtures, not during their matches. Most of the country will be glued to their television sets for the 7 to 8 hour duration of the matches, so no lawn mowers, kettles, geysers or other electricity guzzling equipment will be in use. This, in itself, will drive demand for electricity down significantly.
Let’s do it for the boys.
Dangerous Outsiders
Most of the speculation around who will win the ICC Cricket World Cup centres on Australia, England and South Africa.
Ominously, one side who proved to be our nemesis on a number of occasions in past World Cups have just won 8 of their last 10 matches.
New Zealand will certainly enter the World Cup with a lot of confidence. A number of youngsters have really come through, notably Kane Williamson (24), who scored 753 runs in just 11 innings since December.
The fact that they will be playing all their round robin matches at home, including the fixture against Australia, will no doubt also contribute to their chances of lifting the cup.
Martin Crowe wrote two excellent articles on the ESPN Cricinfo website which any Protea fan will no doubt find very interesting:
Is this NZ’s best World Cup chance? and
My heart say New Zealand, my head South Africa
Sayonara, Allister
After eight years in the Cape, Allister Coetzee has opted for an early retirement package via Japan. Possibly the biggest compliment comes from Gert Smal who feels that Coetzee is a strong contender to become a Springbok coach in future.
While speculation is rife about a possible replacement, we are holding thumbs that it will be Brendan Venter, whose medical practice in the Strand has been a factor in him not committing long-term elsewhere. With Paul Treu also in the Cape, we may just return to the good old days when the teams from the Cape played like the modern day All Blacks.
