In January 2016, the day after Ben Stokes had smashed the Proteas to all parts of Newlands on his way to a scintillating 258 off only 198 balls, an English expat friend invited to me to a dinner function at Kelvin Grove.  We shared a table with eight English cricket tourists. After dinner the Englishmen started to ask me about the state of first-class cricket in South Africa.  The Cobras were due to start a Sunfoil Series game at Newlands a few days after the completion of the Test match.  The group was still going to spend some time in Cape Town after the Test match, so they wanted to know if I can get tickets for them for the Cobras’ game.  They were absolutely gobsmacked when I told them there’s no need to buy tickets; you just walk into the ground.  I spent the next hour convincing them that … Continue reading