Wake up, you cricket meddlers!

OH BOY, what cricket drama at Headingley. Last man in for England, 73 runs needed. They get the runs. But on the way, a botched certain run-out by the Aussies. Also a wrong lbw decision by the umpire – but the Aussies have used up all their appeals.

England win by one wicket. It’s the kind of thing that couldn’t be scripted.

This thriller in the Ashes series proves emphatically that Test cricket is not just the purest form of the game, it’s the most exciting. Such drama is simply impossible in the one-day game. Let’s not even talk about T20, cricket’s version of baseball. It’s a message to those cricket administrators in England who want to tamper with the county game: Wake up, you dodos!

Early case?

INVESTMENT analyst Dr James Greener notes in his latest grumpy newsletter that President Cyril Ramaphosa put his signature last week to the Protection, Promotion, Development and Management of Indigenous Knowledge Bill.

“This new act ‘aims to prevent the unauthorised use and misappropriation of knowledge developed over time by the country’s indigenous communities’. It also provides for a group of assessors and indigenous knowledge practitioners who will be responsible for maintaining and adding to a register of appropriate items. I trust that they have already added a stout copy of an English Dictionary to the register as it represents my Indigenous Knowledge. Oh, and Newton’s Principia.

“Unfortunately, the examples chosen for illustration are traditional Xhosa blankets. The internet link explaining what these are showcases ‘the Ingcawe blanket, a dazzlingly bright white blanket with a striking black stripe (top and bottom)… The blanket, warm and fuzzy, is extremely soft to the touch… is 90% acrylic (and) 10% polycotton!’

“This sounds suspiciously nonindigenous and may be an early case for the National Indigenous Knowledge Systems Office to investigate.”

Bokkie

SOME information in the “Did you know?” category:

The springbok is capable of jumping higher than the average house. This is due to its powerful hind legs and the fact that a house cannot jump.

A-a-a-a-a-rgh! This comes from former councillor Laurie Kaplan, a fellow with origins in the arid Northern Cape. He’s been in Durban many years but I fear he’s beginning to revert.

Women’s Month

DURBAN poet Sarita Mathur does her bit for Women’s Month:

Twentieth Century

Men and boys

Must know that times have changed Their sisters and wives

Are intellectually equipped

To deal with many things,

They can drive and go to work ,

And earn as much as them.

They can shop and run a home

And are great at other things too. However, are men and boys equipped, we ask?

It’s 21st century talk.

Can they run a home,

Are they up to the task,

Can they look after babies

And children

And homework as well?

Can they work and keep the peace, Which women do so well?

We have to train boys and men

And then we can proudly say,

We women have done our jobs, Attitudes have changed.

Shared responsibility is a right,

And we each have our own way.

Tailpiece

WHAT do you call a Frenchman in sandals? Phillipe Phillope.

Last word

EARLY morning cheerfulness can be extremely obnoxious.