I bin tagged by Ruth and Karen:
For 8 days, post 1 thing every day that made you happy. Then tag 8 other people. So many people have already been tagged, but hopefully these few haven’t yet:
Mary Robinette Kowal, Catherine Hellisen, Jess, Krispy, Marshall Payne, Jim Hines, Camille Alexa, Charles Tan.
Well, right now I do have a reason to be happy 
The SA cricket team beat Australia — in OZ! This is pretty major. For more than a decade Aus has ruled the cricket world. We’ve pretty much constantly been the runners-up — the chokers and the could-have been’s.
We had our moments, times when it looked like we could break the Australian stranglehold. But they were almost moments. With this win, we go 1 up in the series and maybe, just maybe, we finally have the team that can do it.
It’s good to be cautious still. Australia rebounds every time we think we’re close to beating them. But today we won, and I’ll take it.
Graeme Smith may finally have a team that compliments his own mindset. The Aussies are cautious of Smith and for good reason. He’s never backed down from them, always taken the game right to them no matter how impossible it might seem (He was part of the famous 438 ODI — arguably the greatest game ever played in one day cricket when SA chased down an impossible score. Now, he’s led his team to [speaking under correction] the second highest run chase in test cricket history and the biggest on Australian soil).
AB de Villiers made a half century and a century. He’s carried on the form he had in England and deserves the Man of the Match award. There’s a realistic chance he could attain the one thing that always evaded Herschelle Gibbs — consistency.
On pure ability alone, Gibbs and de Villiers are the two best batsmen we’ve produced this millenium, but consistency is the reason Jaques Kallis has been the Big Gun in our line-up, not Gibbs.
I’m really pleased with JP Duminy’s half century too. He’s one of those unlucky players that should have played a lot more games for SA but somehow that never happened. He’ll probably lose his spot when Ashwell Prince returns. He’s a good player and it looks like between him and Prince we’ll have a batsman who can stabilize the middle. Middle order collapses have been SA batting’s trademark since re-admittance, combined with spirited figtbacks by our #7-#9 batsmen.
I have to admit, Hashim Amla has surprised me. I didn’t think he’d be able to cut it at this level, but he’s quietly gone about his business and is developing into a very solid no3 batsman. Leaving Kallis to shift down to #4. Followed by de Villiers, Prince/ Duminy and Boucher.
Good Christ, we have a batting line-up! Maybe. No more close your eyes and hope Lance Klusener will save us from the inevitable #@$%-up when the middle-order get their habitual stage fright and fall down showing their bellies, like puppies facing off against ravenous wolves.
Well, maybe. Early days.
In Dale Steyn and Morne Morkel we have what I personally think is the most talented duo of young quick bowlers in the world today. They have it in them to rival the great pairs of fast bowling. Whether they’ll get there time will tell. And now the Makhatini is fast getting his form back too, which gives us that vital no3 bowler to help them out. Kallis is taking wickets again. Paul Harris is doing better than I thought he would in the spinner role. We’ll never have the likes of a Shane Warne or Anil Kumble, we’re not that kind of country and it’s been downright silly of the selectors to keep chasing the dream of a match-winning spin bowler. What we do have, are spinners who can compliment and back-up our real strength, which is the Fast Bowlers. We do produce some pretty fine fast bowlers and SA needs to play to its strengths, not try to emulate someone else’s way.
This team is young. They have the ability, maybe more than any team we’ve fielded since re-admittance. The cricket world really is theirs for the taking. Or losing. Chokers, like their predecessors.
But today they won.
Tags: cricket, happy days
on 
on 