Newlands will be back to its best

Like a grumpy rattlesnake, the Newlands outfield will not be pretty, but it will be fast when South Africa take on the West Indies in the second one-day international on Friday.

That, at least, is the promise made by pitch consultant Peter Muzzell. "We climbed in and scarified the outfield and verticut it down to nothing after the Test match," he said on Tuesday.

"The Elton John concert took five days off our preparation schedule, but I'm very happy with how it's coming along. It won't be a lovely green outfield, but it will be fast.

"We'll (also) see a huge improvement in the pace of the ball off the turf."

Cynics might wonder when last the famous ground had boasted a greensward. If we were talking golf, much of the outfield would have been labelled "ground under repair" for several seasons now.

The poor state of the Newlands outfield has raised mostly cosmetic concerns in recent years. But then came the second Test against the West Indies earlier this month.

The grass was so long that it might have held up the new year's arrival at the ground by a few days. Certainly, the ball's progress towards the boundary was markedly slowed by the unusually shaggy turf.

More importantly, Dale Steyn and Fidel Edwards would be able to mount a good case against the outfield for aiding and abetting the hamstring strains they suffered in the match. And Neil McKenzie could do the same regarding his torn calf.

Muzzell was confident that no muscle need quiver in fear of the workload it might have to take on come Friday.

"The outfield will be fast," he emphasised.

What of the pitch?" The pitch is looking good," he said. "There will be very little grass on it and it should be a batsman's paradise."

The long-term weather forecast looks keen to play ball: partly cloudy until Friday, when the mercury might just melt at 33°C.

All that will be needed to perfect the picture will be some exciting cricket. Which would mean a game nothing like the one that put us to sleep in Centurion on Sunday when South Africa won by six wickets.

Rain reduced the innings to 36 overs each, and the Windies used most of their time at the crease to ensure that the large crowd was thoroughly bored.

The wet conditions weren't ideal for batting, but the visitors had the look of a team that would rather have been looking at the departures board at OR Tambo Airport in Johannesburg than the scoreboard.

The most interesting moment of the day came when South Africa reached 20 overs in their innings still four runs shy of the Duckworth-Lewis target, and with the drizzle having resumed.

But play was never interrupted, and the hosts were able to win fair and square.

The upshot is that with four matches of their tour remaining, the Windies would seem to be in danger of dissolving into the rabble many thought they would be from the moment they touched down in South Africa.

Then they won the first Twenty20 international and the first Test, and were admirably defiant before going down in the second Test.

Would this be the tour on which they would turn around the dismal displays that have characterised their cricket for too long? Alas, not.

The third Test, which South Africa won by an innings, was abjectly one-sided, and while Sunday's match was competitive in parts, the result was never going to be different.