Cape Town – Respected BBC cricket commentator Jonathan Agnew has come to the defence of the wicket prepared at Newlands for the second Test between the Proteas and England.
Agnew took to Twitter just before tea on the fifth and final day on Wednesday asking not only for 'respect' for Test cricket, but that good pitches are not condemned as ‘roads’ or flat tracks and criticised before the full duration of the Test had passed.
After only 13 wickets fell on the first four days of the Newlands Test, a change in weather conditions on the fifth day saw England grimly hanging on in their second innings.
With the ball swinging and seaming in cloudy overhead conditions and the pitch providing some turn for the Proteas spinners, England lost four wickets in the first session of play and a further two before tea before bad light brought an end to the match.