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Centurion curse to end?

Rob Houwing, Sport24 chief writer

Cape Town - South Africa versus England at Centurion has got to be one of the most blighted Test matches in modern history when it comes to interruption by the elements.

So it will be a relief to cricket enthusiasts - though perhaps whooping in advance would be unwise -- that Wednesday’s first Test of the 2009/10 series looks like finally breaking the weather jinx.

An incredible seven days of a possible 15, over the course of three prior encounters between these teams at SuperSport Park, have been entirely lost to rain.

Not surprisingly, then, there have been two draws at the ground: the first there was in 1995/96, when Shaun Pollock’s debut was marred by the loss of days three to five and only one innings was possible - England ground out 381 for nine declared over the first two, with Graeme Hick scoring 141.

There was another stalemate in the last series, in 2004/05, when South Africa went into the final Test 2-1 down and desperately seeking a levelling win.

But they were always playing catch-up after the washout of day one and ran out of time in their quest, even after setting the tourists a daring target of 185 and having them 73 for four when the game petered out.

In between, there was the notorious final Test of the 1999/2000 series, when Hansie Cronje, later to be nailed for match-fixing, came to a last-day “arrangement” with rival captain Nasser Hussain involving innings forfeitures after days two, three and four were non-starters.

England won that dead-rubber Test by two wickets after the Proteas had already secured the series, and it remains the only Test of 14 in total at Centurion where South Africa have lost.

The Proteas boast 11 wins - three against Sri Lanka, two each against New Zealand and West Indies, and one against Zimbabwe, Pakistan, Bangladesh and Australia.

There was still plenty of rain about on the Highveld earlier this week, with Monday’s play in the Coca-Cola Khaya Majola U19 cricket week at Benoni wiped out, but the forecast from Wednesday to Sunday for Johannesburg and Pretoria, touch wood, is altogether more encouraging.

The SA Weather Service predicts warm to hot temperatures, abundant sunshine and a minimum of moisture - a 30 to 35% chance of “showers” is tipped for Saturday and Sunday but nothing before that, even if late afternoon thunderstorms can never be ruled out at this time of year.

*Rob Houwing will be attending the Centurion Test and provide comment and analysis for Sport24 readers after each day’s play.
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