Johannesburg — While the famous football stadium just down the road, carries the nickname “Theatre of Dreams”, the Old Trafford cricket ground has more often than not created nightmares for the Proteas over the years.
Thursday’s match is only the 10th Test South Africa have played at Old Trafford dating back to the first in 1924, and just the third in the post-isolation era.
A bit like The Oval, SA have won just once in Manchester in those previous nine visits. It took hundreds from Jackie McGlew, Johnny Waite and Paul Winslow to set up a narrow three-wicket victory there in 1955.
In 2017 the Proteas’ batting let them down and they were thumped by 177 runs
The 1998 Test was one that SA, captained by Hansie Cronje, really should have won.
Before their more famous battle at Trent Bridge later in that series, Allan Donald and Michael Atherton had engaged in another thrilling battle at Old Trafford where the great fast bowler delivered a staggering 40 overs in the second innings, with England, after being made to follow on, clinging on for a draw with one wicket in hand.
Donald reflected later that the match was the turning point in that series. SA had pulverised England at Lord’s in the second Test to go 1-0 up in the five-match series, but victories for England in Nottingham and then in a controversial match at Headingley saw Alec Stewart’s team win the series.
On Tuesday Keshav Maharaj, one of just three players in the current Proteas squad who played at Old Trafford five years ago, admitted he didn’t have many memories of the 2017 match - other than SA losing.
“There’s not many people who have played a Test here, which is a good thing,” said Maharaj.
“To have that youth and energy and with people coming here with a clean slate, it was similar at Lord’s. Having these youngsters around, who don’t have baggage from previous matches, helps and hopefully we’ll see much of the same in this Test.”
SA Record at Old Trafford: