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Umpire Belle Boudoir once again showed his true colours, that he is not good enough for Ludo competitions, did Graeme Smith in giving him lbw to a ball that would have gone a foot over the stumps.
The fourth day of this Test was otherwise a wet one with only 20 overs possible but in those 20 overs, Herchelle Gibbs proved to all and sundry why he thought Australian bowlers at their best, without the help of umpires, belong in the girls' team (the best girls' team in the world mind you).
Gibbs scored 67 and the only way they could have got him out was by umpiring error or a run out. Someone must have warned Boudoir to behave or else so it had to be the run out. When Gibbs called for a sharp single, poor old Kallis who was hibernating after his shot and looking at the fielder suddenly woke up to see his partner halfway down the pitch and so declined. The direct hit actually did the trick. The rain killed any chance of further play when it came a second time and the Test is most certainly heading for a draw.
With 186 runs ahead, South Africa can at best bat the time out, practice under Test conditions and send Australian fielders chasing leather all through the day for as long as they can. What else can they do? What remains to be seen is whether there will be any play possible on the final day.
Meanwhile, Rahul Dravid has denied he is the coach's boy and made what some of his supporters say are the right kind of noises to demonstrate his independent spirit and so on.
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