Notes from (north of) the Oval #12
Big Col shines brightly on a gloomy day for the hosts.
Given the balance of power in this test is weighted heavily towards South Africa, it feels counter-intuitive to start with a positive, but on this occasion it’s unavoidable.
Here it is:
If you don’t get a dopamine rush watching Colin de Grandhomme bat, you really don’t like cricket. If you really don’t like cricket, then you’re probably going to want to click out of this about now.
Yes, he’s immensely frustrating (see first test dismissal for Exhibit A), but he’s compulsive viewing because there’s always the chance he’ll do something like he did today: come in to bat in a near-hopeless situation and carry himself like he had ambled to the crease with the score 450-5.
He makes batting look simple and concentrating look hellishly difficult.