Cape Town - Tuesday, 18 November 2021. It may not have been quite as dramatic as when former Fifa President Sepp Blatter handed the late President Nelson Mandela the golden envelope that unveiled “South Africa” as the Fifa 2010 World Cup hosts, but it will still be a day etched in the memory of South Africans.
Finally, after all the trauma that cricket in this country has endured in the recent past there is something for the nation to look forward to with great anticipation.
South Africa, along with its neighbours Zimbabwe and Namibia, were chosen by the International Cricket Council to host the 2027 Cricket World Cup.
Cricket SA acting chief executive Pholetsi Moseki, like all South Africans, could not hide his excitement and pledged that it will be “a truly African World Cup” – 24 years after it was last staged on this continent.
The tide certainly seems to be turning in cricket circles with the Proteas’ Men’s team also showing encouraging signs of a revival. They may not have qualified for the semi-finals at the ICC T20 World Cup in the UAE, but they certainly put in a positive showing by winning four out of their five matches.
Key to this transformation has been the form of Aiden Markram and the Proteas batter speaks exclusively to us in this edition, where he outlines his next challenge, starting with Virat Kohli’s Indian team arriving here in South Africa this summer.
Even our long lost boys Bafana Bafana are providing the nation with hope again by coming within a whisker of qualifying for the final CAF round of fixtures for Qatar 2022 with only dubious officiating spoiling Hugo Broos’ young team’s chances.
The nation is finally starting to see the rainbow again …
Enjoy this edition.
@ZaahierAdams