The visitors spent well beyond their designated three hours on a picturesque morning at Newlands
Danyal Rasool01-Jan-2025Cape Town slept in bleary-eyed after a New Year’s Eve that drew a record number of visitors – in excess of 35,000 piled into the picturesque Waterfront for a free music concert and midnight fireworks, with Table Mountain as the epic backdrop. The streets around Newlands, the genteel suburb where the cricket ground looms almost as large as the mountain itself, were deserted as 2025 was welcomed in by clear blue skies punctuated only by wispy clouds, a 22-degree sun bathing the city in its golden hue. On another day – perhaps any other day – the area would have been heaving in the morning. But walk into Newlands Cricket Ground on New Year’s Day before noon, and you have the whole place to yourself.Except for those who, presumably, drew the short straw. That would appear to be Pakistan this morning, scheduled for the morning training session, with South Africa only getting to work in the afternoon. Down by the nets behind the ground, Naseem Shah, Mir Hamza, and Mohammad Abbas are all batting; Pakistan have worried about the length of their tail of late. A couple of startlingly quick net bowlers put them through their paces. Mir Hamza gets an outside edge headed to an imaginary first slip pretty soon. Naseem Shah’s defence is solid, but the short ball can trouble him. He shared a smile and a work of encouragement with the bowler.Related
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You idly wonder what these three beginning the session with the bat means for Aamer Jamal, who was largely unused with the ball in Centurion. A couple of hours later, though, he’s bowling at the ground in the nets, three strips across from the match pitch, so probably not much. Salman Ali Agha, who came out to speak to the media, says Pakistan don’t really know their team yet.”It looks like a different pitch to Johannesburg [Centurion],” he says as the reporters huddle around underneath a sun that has by now begun to prickle. “Less grass on it. We don’t know, we’ll see tomorrow. Then we’re going to be able to know how we play the Test match. The stats say that spinners does come into it, but we haven’t decided yet. Everyone is fit and available.”I just saw the wicket and I thought I probably will bowl in this game. I haven’t bowled in the last three Test matches, but my role will be key here I feel.”Back at the training nets, a security guard shuffles up slowly, saying “You can’t watch from here,” as I stand behind the batter on the other side of the meshing, shaded by the London Plane trees. This is unusual, because the players never seem to mind; Pakistan, in general, have never really bothered with who’s watching their training and practice sessions. I say I’m from the media, and show him my accreditation. He barely glances, gives me a friendly nod, and moves on. No one feels like an argument this early on New Year’s Day.Soon enough, all the players have moved back to the ground itself, and the bowlers are back to performing their day jobs. Mir Hamza appears to be having the best of it, getting the ball to shape away and constantly beating Saud Shakeel’s outside edge. As the day grows hotter, Naseem has lost none of his energy after his morning excursions, and is steaming in full pelt every ball. Despite some murmured concerns around his fitness, he appears to be bowling fine, and at high pace.Mohammad Abbas is not bowling at high pace, of course, but he’s very accurate. A right handed batter- it’s hard to make out whom for the Newlands press box – is very disciplined about leaving everything that doesn’t hit the stumps. For Pakistan’s sake and for all the troubles he’s had with this kind of dismissal, one hopes it’s Babar Azam.The Table Mountain, the sun and blue skies: Newlands is a beautiful combination of them all•AFP/Getty ImagesAgha, meanwhile, uses his press chat to gush about Abbas. “I’ve never seen anyone who knows his skill as much as he does. He was a bit rusty in the first innings with the new ball, but that’s what you can expect from a guy who’s coming back after three years. The way he came back in the second innings was outstanding, the way he bowled. The way Markram and Bavuma were going, I thought it was going to be a one-sided game. He just came and bowled a whole session; that’s outstanding. I’ve never seen a fast bowler bowl a whole session like that.”The training session seems to be going on awfully long, well beyond the designated three hours. So much so that South Africa, who were scheduled to do their press conference after Pakistan, send Wiaan Mulder in first while Pakistan continue to be put through their paces.”Definitely,” he says about spin coming into this Test. “Generally, over the last couple of years, it has spun more here than at Centurion. It’s a little bit slower as well here, maybe a touch tackier in the mornings.”Speaking of which, Kamran Ghulam is now sending a few of his orthodox left-armers down to Mohammad Rizwan. Rizwan takes a strike out to defend, but it’s gone straight on, and raps him on the pad. Ghulam turns around and breaks into a loud appeal at whoever they have standing in as umpire; again, it’s hard to tell. He’s no longer appealing, he’s pleading, but the man remains unmoved. Ghulam immediately signals for a review; after all, he spent a decade on the domestic circuit before being first playing a Test. He’s not going to take no for an answer.Perhaps Pakistan keep on going because what better arena is there to play cricket? Watching the nets from across the dugouts, it’s hard not to be struck by the grandeur of the place. Table Mountain, possibly the oldest mountain in the world, looks down at the ground, perhaps the oldest cricket spectator in the world. No one, presumably, wants to disappoint it.Pakistan finally begin to pack up, and it’s finally South Africa’s turn now. There are a few routine warm-downs as the players lap around the field. Media interactions done, the journalists begin to shuffle out of the ground, and emerge back out into the city. A few afternoon risers mill about now, but serene quiet still defines Newlands as afternoon takes over from the morning. It must have been a really good New Year’s Eve. Pakistan, unlikely to have participated, want to ensure it’s an equally good New Year’s Test, too.
