Déjà vu all over again

Despite the presence of some of the world's best cricketers in their ranks, South Africa, once again,succumbed to the pressure and choked against New Zealand in Mirpur, writes Andy Bull in the Guardian. You can use any euphemism you like, he writes, psychological frailty, mental weakness, but the cliche is there for a reason – it is apt and true.

Back before that West Indies game Graeme Smith had snapped at a journalist who had the temerity to bring it up. "So you have been out in the middle? You understand all that? Every time we walk into a press conference it's the question we expect to get." It has become a running gag since then. It was the first question Smith faced when his team lost to England. "That's not at all predictable," Smith sighed. I guess a lot of cricket fans will be saying the same thing tonight.