St. George’s Band at Port Elizabeth.
Apart from the cricket action on the field, the second day of the second Test between South Africa and Australia created headline for another reason. The brass music band, that was has been a popular fixture at St George’s Park over two decades was asked to stop playing music by onfield umpires Kumar Dharamsena and Sundaram Ravi. According to reports, the two umpires claimed that the music was too loud and it was causing troubles in listening to the knicks of the bat.
The reports suggest that the band was asked to go silent after the Lunch break which did not please the crowd. The hundreds of people sitting in the stands started chanting “we want the band” which made the musicians return to the stadium to start playing again. The two on-field umpires stopped the play twice to discuss the situation regarding the match after the match referee, Jeff Crowe decided to come down to the middle to handle the situation.
South Africa vs Australia, 2nd Test
67.2 overs – Umpires ask band to stop playing, fans boo them. Band stops.
67.4 overs – Band starts playing again. Umpires complain. Band stops.
67.5 overs – Band starts playing again.
67.6 overs – Dean Elgar out. Band playing.#SAvAUS pic.twitter.com/YhceLv2emF
— bet365 (@bet365) 10 March 2018
The band did not die down after that and continued to play the music louder and with much fanfare throughout the final session as South Africa went on to take the lead.
Former South African wicketkeeper took to Twitter to express his displeasure at the incident and compared the noise with India’s Eden Gardens. “The next time 100000 people at The great Eden Gardens, start making too much noise(which is far more deafening than St George’s), please can officials stop the game. Ridiculous! Wake up Dharmasena! You should know better, you played!,” he wrote on Twitter.
The next time 100000 people at The great Eden Gardens, start making too much noise(which is far more deafening than St George’s), please can officials stop the game. Ridiculous! Wake up Dharmasena! You should know better, you played!
— mark boucher (@markb46) 10 March 2018
AB de Villiers went on to score an unbeaten-74 run to take South Africa to 263/7 at stumps on Day 2. The Proteas have taken a 20-run lead in the match and will look to extend lead to take control in the match.
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