No ants to bug Proteas in Kimberley after union thwarts infestation

It not just load-shedding or the oppressive heatwave in the Northern Cape that the Kimberley Oval had to overcome to ensure it could host its first day-night international in more than a decade. 

The venue will host the final ODI between the Proteas and England next Wednesday. 

Officials at Northern Cape Cricket had to work swiftly to prevent an ant infestation that threatened to leave spectators with more in their pants than they would have bargained for.

“We noticed the problems with ants on the grass embankment and before it got to be a bigger problem or went to the [playing] field, we had them exterminated,” said the union’s CEO, Thapelo January. 

“It’s like when you have a puncture, before it leaves you with a flat tyre, you fix it.” 

That problem was resolved to everyone — including most importantly Cricket SA’s — satisfaction at the end of last year. 

Then close to R1m was spent upgrading the stadium — giving it a fresh lick of paint, a few new bulbs for the floodlights, installing new seats and some other minor tweaks to the grandstand. 

While the series with the World Cup holders is being played away from the traditional big venues because of the SA20 tournament, it is nevertheless critical for Northern Cape cricket. The union has worked closely with the provincial government to ensure the venue looks good and is as close to capacity as possible. 

The office of Premier Zamani Saul has purchased 500 tickets, valued at R200,000, which will be distributed to local schools. That effort is being matched by the tourism, education and sports and recreation departments. 

January said he hoped with many people being paid this week that there’d be an increase in ticket purchases. About 40% of the tickets had been sold by Wednesday afternoon. 

January has one hope, albeit one that may not be to the Proteas’ benefit, given the implications for automatic World Cup qualification. “What I really want is for the series to be tied 1-1 after the games in Bloemfontein, so that we host a decider,” he chirped. 

The first two matches will be played in Bloemfontein on Friday and Sunday.