As Clarke gave his speech, a fly circled his head in graceful swoops. This was one of those luminous moments in sports.....one thinks of the appearance of the rainbow when Davis Love finally won his major after years of choking. The national bird of Australia made it all the way to Newlands. But the question remains, what's the attraction for these proud insects....the Continent or the Australians?
But even if there were no flies on the Proteas they were thoroughly outplayed through much of the series. It started with a mistake when Smith waved a white flag and decided to field. Not the only captain's mistake he made in the series. But the fact is the Aussies were better man for man almost all the way through. Would anybody but de Villiers and perhaps Amla have made a composite team?
Mostly though I'm left with the old impression that the Aussies just had to win and for us a win would have been nice. Johnson was hostile every ball....the physically just as imposing Morkel drifted in and out. Nothing underlined the attitude differences more than those two quicks.
