This cache forms part of our Ghosts of Pietermaritzburg series which follows things that goes booo in the night…
Contrary to common belief, not all ghosts rattle around at night. Some are quite happy to be out and about in daylight like the Alexandra Park cricketers. In summer, if you happen to be in Alex Park late on one of those summer afternoons when the thick fog rolls up from the Duzi and shrouds the cricket pavilion, obliterating the bandstand, stand still and listen.
The voice of the umpire echoes round the field proclaiming "no ball" or "end of the over". Other men's voices join his in the shouting of "run!" or "stay!", even a gentlemanly "well played". The umpire firmly shouts "six!" And from the grandstand a refined clapping from a single pair of feminine hands can be heard and a lovely voice cries "Bravo! Well done!"
The mist lifts and there's no one there. The Pavilion is empty and the pitch bare. No one knows who the lone lady in the stand is or who the cricketers are. Or why they play this once-a-year match in the mist.