Centurion - a perfect setting

So finally the Test series is upon us. It’s felt a long time coming, but that has helped raise anticipation levels. We are starting at Centurion Park (or the name of a certain TV company as it is known by) which is a wonderful stadium for cricket.

It has been able to marry the needs of a modern ground but also retain traditional touches. There is only one stand which covers about a third of the perimeter at the Pavilion End. It houses the changing rooms (with the long staircase to help with players’ fitness) corporate boxes and the media centre.

The press box is open air which is terrific because you get the full atmosphere unlike the hermetically sealed jobs that are springing up around the world. On my previous visit to South Africa, for the World Twenty20 2007, I had the experience of the open-air box at the Wanderers which virtually vibrated to a packed house of India and Pakistan fans during the final.

On this occasion there wasn’t quite the same volume level, although the home supporters certainly made their presence felt when the South Africans came out to bat. It was great to see a strong turnout for the opening day. There has been concern about the numbers coming through the turnstiles but on this occasion the public filled the grass banks that surround the rest of the ground.

It helped that today is a public holiday for Reconciliation Day – created after apartheid ended in 1994 – and plenty of people took the chance to spend a day at the cricket. The Gauteng region certainly hasn’t been short of high-level games this year; the IPL, the Champions Trophy, England’s ODIs and now this Test. Even though the grassed areas were well populated, the empty blue seats in the stand suggested that may be a little too much cricket for some.

Of course, whenever England travel overseas crowds are better because of the large tour groups and Barmy Army. There will be a surge of fans from the UK into Durban next week and Cape Town will be rammed with them in the New Year. It all helps the local economy.

Behind one side of the grass banks are a row of chalet-style buildings which allow for a fairly unique cricket-watching experience. They all have private balconies and certainly make for a civilised day out. Then around the back of the chalets are a whole host of braais and as lunch approached the smell began to waft over the ground. Now that’s a true South African experience.