The third Cricket Test between England and South Africa, starting today and running until 7 January, is a boost for tourism in Cape Town, with accommodation in the city being near to fully booked, 84 000 tickets having been sold to cricket fans, mainly from the UK. More than half of the Whale Cottage Camps Bay guests have come to Cape Town to go to the cricket.
With guaranteed TV coverage on Sky-News, Sky Sport and other international channels, Cape Town’s excellent summer weather will be a good “advertisement” for the Mother City, to Britons who are experiencing one of their coldest winters in 25 years.
The following report comes from The Telegraph (www.telegraph.co.uk):
“Curse of Cape Town
Newlands may be arguably the best-looking ground in world cricket, but it has been a graveyard for England, who have lost all three Tests there since South Africa’s readmission to world cricket in 1992. Over the same period, the hosts have won 14 out of 20 Tests, with three draws and three defeats (all against Australia).
Big draw
After the poor attendances in Durban a large and lively crowd is expected at Newlands, with 84,000 tickets having been sold in advance, many to England’s travelling support.
What they are saying …
Graeme Smith: “You can’t afford to take any for granted. Obviously in this series, with us being one down, this is a crucial match but we play and prepare for each Test match the same. We’re ready for tomorrow.
“We were outplayed in Durban, we are honest about that. We’ve had a look in the mirror, we’ve trained well, prepared well and it’s a ground we’ve got a lot of confidence on.
It’s difficult to put your finger on the little thing that is missing. As a team, the style of play hasn’t changed. Maybe players haven’t produced the level of performance that we have over those (previous) two years. It’s important that we get back to that, starting tomorrow.”
Andrew Strauss: “In Test matches you’ve always got to earn the right to get on top of the opposition and that’s what we did well in Durban.
“We forced them to stay in the field for over two days and maybe that’s affected their second innings batting. It’s important to start a Test match well so the opposition don’t get on top of you.
“Generally the players haven’t been involved in the previous defeats here. I’m the only player who was involved in the last Newlands Test. The guys have no fear of playing at Newlands.
“A Newlands Test match is one of the great occasions. It’s usually a result wicket so there are a lot of reasons to be switched on and ready.” “
Chris von Ulmenstein, Whale Cottage Portfolio: www.whalecottage.com
Tourism in Cape Town will enjoy a double whammy at the start of the World Cup, with FIFA’s Local Organising Committee and the South African Rugby Union reaching an agreement which will allow the rugby test match between the Springboks and the French team to be played at Newlands on Saturday 12 June, reports the Cape Argus. 
