Sri Lanka enjoyed quiet celebrations and had a game of football on the beach © ESPNcricinfo Ltd

Tillakaratne Dilshan had a glint of mischief in his eye when he told the media what his team was going to do after they left Kingsmead on Thursday night. “We’re going to celebrate!” he said.

And why not? After eight attempts at winning a Test match in South Africa, they had finally done it in smashing style. After being left battered and bruised in Centurion, they came out with more fight than anyone thought they possessed and meted out a right-royal thrashing of the hosts. After being accused of having no match-winners, they bound together as a team to play a game of cricket most of them will never forget. So, yes, a celebration well deserved.

This year, I have seen some memorable cricket festivities. I was in Centurion when South Africa clinched the one-day series against India and toasted the night away. I was in Harare when Zimbabwe announced their return to Test cricket with a win over Bangladesh and was invited to their epic dhindhindi (party) at the team hotel. I was at Newlands when South Africa beat Australia and was working in the press box long enough to see Graeme Smith, his wife and a collection of friends gather on the Newlands pitch to celebrate 47 all out and a crazy win. So, I was interested to know what Sri Lanka got up to in Durban after making history at Kingsmead.

“We had a team drink and a few eats at the hotel,” Anura Tennekoon, Sri Lankan team manager told me. “It was a fairly quiet celebration, we have another Test match to play.” That’s it? With popular beach bar Joe Cool’s just across the road from the team hotel, I expected a little bit more than a social event which sounds so civilised. I wondered if Tennekoon was keeping something from me, but an early visit to the Durban beach-front told me he probably wasn’t.

The Sri Lankan team were out there as well, playing a fierce match of beach soccer. Tennekoon said they decided to have a “light workout”, but he was certainly not being entirely truthful about that. For over 90 minutes, under the roasting sun, with a stiff breeze, Sri Lanka played football.

Holiday makers wandered through their session, a few people stared curiously and some of us took pictures but they carried on, undeterred from their task. For a fleeting moment, I thought about whether the South African attack looked this determined when they came to the same sea for their recovery swim on Tuesday. Tennekoon’s words came back to me, “We still have another match to play.”

Since Sri Lanka arrived in South Africa, their quiet confidence has been striking. Initially most of them, including Dilshan, Mahela Jayawardene and Kumar Sangakkara, said their main goal was just to win a Test here.

It’s this determination that has made Sri Lanka so easy to warm to. They have not allowed anything, neither defeat, nor victory, to have too great an influence on their general character, so far. They’ve smiled without salaries and stressed the seriousness of improving their skills. Most importantly, they have not shied away from hard work.

One of the most likeable characters in the touring party is Tennekoon himself, who is polite, engaging and a true gentleman. I jokingly asked him how he was feeling this morning. He replied, in his typical soft-spoken style, “Well, when you win a Test match, you do get quite happy."

The sights along Durban's Golden Mile © ESPNcricinfo Ltd

Perhaps soon Christmas cards will have pictures of an azure sky above a bluer sea, lit up only by the shining sun. Instead of a man bundled up in a red coat, the person bearing gifts will wear colourful swimwear and mince pies will be replaced with ice-cream. In Africa, that’s how we celebrate the holidays and no place does it better than Durban.

The east coast city markets itself as “the warmest place to be” and besides the steamy temperatures, the end of year vibe is at its best here. Last week, more than 2,500 cars passed through one of the major highway toll gates every hour en route from Johannesburg and other up-country destinations to the coast. Guesthouses, bed and breakfasts, hotels and holiday flats are booked out as everyone seeks out the city’s best feature – the beach.

Durban’s Golden Mile is a five kilometre stretch of hotels and restaurants that has gone from grubby to grand after it was revamped for last year’s FIFA World Cup. It starts at the Suncoast casino - an attempt to recreate the art deco style that dominates elsewhere in the city but what is really an ostentatious monstrosity combining many of life’s ills, gambling and junk food for example, under one roof. It ends at the African-themed Moyo restaurant, which is located in the uShaka aquarium theme park, where everything from springbok to crocodile is served. In between, there is the regular selection of fast-food joints, the raucous bar Joe Cool’s and the trendy café Circus Circus.

The visiting team hotel, the Southern Sun Elangeni, is also along this strip. When subcontinent teams, in particular, are visiting, the lobby of this hotel is filled with fans waiting to catch a glimpse of their heroes, something which does not often happen in South Africa. Durban is said to be the biggest enclave of people of Indian heritage outside of India, which is perhaps one of the reasons for the strong subcontinental support in this area.

The hosts also used to stay in this hotel but, for the last few seasons, have moved 15 kilometres north to the snootier town of Umhlanga. The official reason is that they prefer to be away from the hustle-bustle of the city.

What they miss out on is a chance to experience a place that is known as the country’s most African city because of the number of migrants from the continent who choose to make Durban their home. They miss out on the colours and sounds that are unique to this place, like the sand art, the rickshaw-pullers, the skate park, the mini-town, the amphitheatre and public garden and the joy of holiday-time on the friendliest and most accessible coast in the country.

Just after 6am on Boxing Day, the walkways are almost empty. The only people in sight are joggers, getting their early morning exercise. Vervet monkeys lurk in the shade, collecting last night’s leftovers and hoping for more scraps of food. They scurry away as the runners pass. It’s the day after Christmas in Durban. An African Christmas.

Zaheer Khan laughed off jibes about his fitness © Getty Images

As a rule I hate sponsor events around cricket series. Trying to capitalise on the two things dearest to the country I am in in the last week of the year, - Christmas and cricket – I am positively miffed. So with trepidation I headed to the “Test Series Christmas” celebration on Southbank in Melbourne only because the official press conferences were supposed to happen there.

I was in for a surprise. Yes there was sponsor presence, but it wasn’t the main event. The main event was cricket and a few carols. Select cricketers from both sides first signed autographs for all the fans that turned up – given the presence of people of Indian origin here, it was a big number. The real deal followed when a group of kids got to play soft-ball cricket with the cricketers. Host Peter Lazer was a ripper too, touching upon touchy issues, like comedians should. He is not one, though.

Michael Hussey came out first, and deliberately missed on the first swing to be out bowled, and then threw his head back in mock disappointment. Lazer sledged him saying if he batted like that, this could be the last time Australia was seeing him bat. Hussey deliberately missed the next one too, to be hit high on the thigh. “He has given him,” Lazer went, “Huss, we don’t have DRS so you can’t appeal against it.”

The next man in was Ricky Ponting, who got into mock sledging with the kids. He too obliged by getting bowled. Rahul Dravid brought more realism to it when he lobbed a simple return catch to a kid. You could sense he must be doing a lot of that with his son too. Before walking back, Dravid high-fived every kid present, which took the little ones by surprise.

David Warner cheered the crowd by hitting one into them. Peter Siddle was hit for the biggest of sixes, leading to the hitter’s mother pointing to everybody he was her son. James Pattinson had to face a beamer, after which Lazer went, “Don’t rub them, count them.” Zaheer Khan and Michael Clarke were good sports, even though they were jibed too. Notably, Zaheer was ribbed about his fitness here. Zaheer smiled in response and proceeded to bowl gentle lobs that were hit away. It even seemed there was too much niceness around.

Minutes later when Hussey was asked in the press conference what he thought of his epitaphs in the paper, he turned serious, squinted a little at the questioner, and said he didn’t care much about criticism from outside the team. The fun and games were over, but the break was worthwhile.

"Waaaaarnie … Waaaaarnie." © Getty Images

Long flights can sometimes be good, especially when you have spent the last couple of days thinking of foreign exchange, malfunctioning credit cards, lost keys, and generally lived through Murphy’s Law. Once on the flight, though, for 15 hours without communication devices and with no way back, all you think of is forward. On my flight to Australia, all I thought of was Australia, a place every cricket lover who grew up in the nineties in India has a special bond with. Back then you watched cricket from Australia more than you did from India, mostly because you could catch it before going to school. In no particular order I thought of:

It’s the post-tea session at the MCG, the sun is out, and Australia haven’t taken a wicket for some time. The 85,000 voices then go, “Waaaaarnie … Waaaaarnie,” until Shane Warne is brought on.

The Channel Nine coverage, which would begin at 5.30 am in Indian winters. Made you want to be there, in the sun, even as you had breakfast.

Those stumps mics on crack. Every time the ball would hit the stumps, they would go “khrrrrrash”. Gutturally, exaggeratedly, almost like they were special effects. Not the kind deceptively added to cricket documentaries nowadays to blow up the sound of bat hitting the ball.

The seagulls. And the Pigeon.

“It’s all happening.” Screaming on air should be left to one man alone. Nobody else can do it like Bill Lawry.

David Boon’s catches. The flick-pull from Brian Lara held at short square leg. The flick from Mohammad Azharuddin caught at forward short leg, after a juggling act.

The duck accompanying batsmen walking back for a nought. After a while, in India, they began editing out the duck. Live time. Whoever could have a problem with that?

The inverted scores. If it’s 2-0 after two balls, the bowler is on a hat-trick unless there has been a run-out.

Forget Sundries, think a player called X Tras.

What Fanie de Villiers had to say about the crowds: “The Aussie crowds hate you when you get there. But the moment you start playing well, they come and support you, which I have never seen anywhere else in the world. The moment I won that Sydney game, I was the best thing since sliced white bread in that country.”

Joel Garner in pink.

The best World Cup of all, 1992.

Bush Great Catches. “Final Countdown” was the background music.

Four’N Twenty. Saw those boundary boards often, but realised it is the famous Melbourne pie only while reading Jarrod Kimber’s Australian Autopsy. Apparently it is difficult to find at the MCG these days because it has been replaced by food that is more posh.

The fence. Hrishikesh Kanitkar once leaned on the fence, and pulled a catch out of the crowd, dismissing Inzamam-ul-Haq.

The sight screen inside the playing area. Steve Waugh once ran behind it to successfully take a catch.

“Marvelloush piece of memorabilia. It’sh a limited edition…” I swear if I had the money then, Richie Benaud would have made my buy a whole lot of it. Nowadays I hear Mark Nicholas has taken up the job. My money stays with me.

With skyscrapers whose summits get lost in smog, shopping malls that teem with sophisticated who’s who, suburbs that sprawl for as far as the eye can see, Johannesburg is like any modern, first-world city. The only thing missing from it was a subway, until late last year.

Eleven years ago, the city announced an ambitious project to build a railway system that would link Sandton, the main commercial district, to the airport and the country’s capital Pretoria. Back then, no-one believed it could be done. In 2006, when construction started, even fewer people had faith in the idea. For one, the construction company had to buy numerous blocks of flats and other private property to make way for the tracks. Many owners refused to sell. Worker strikes were inevitable and delays along the way meant that when the football World Cup was a few weeks away and the venture appeared no closer to completion, it was classified a failure.

In the 18 months since then, reasons to doubt the dreams of the provincial government have become fewer and fewer. The Gautrain launched, initially with just the airport route operational, for the Word Cup, but now can take passengers all the way to Hatfield, where Pretoria’s main university is. Along the way, it stops at Centurion, a little more than a kilometre away from SuperSport Park.

It is not the first time that public transport has been available to spectators of a cricket match – minibus taxis have been used for years – but it is the first time the middle-classes have felt comfortable enough to use it.

On one of the early trains were a group of young men who decided to spend one of the days of their university holidays at the cricket. One of them was wearing a Sri Lankan shirt. Behind them sat an Englishman and his grandsons, who he takes to the first day of the Centurion Test every year. This year, they enjoyed another first – their maiden ride on the Gautrain.

They listened in awe to their grandfather telling them that the train travels at 150 kph and that when he was younger he would take a much older version of a train to Elland Road to watch Leeds United play. Twenty minutes from boarding, the train reaches Centurion – with three stops along the way. For someone who has only ever travelled this route in a car and has battled through traffic which ranges from 45 minutes on a good day, to well over 90 on a bad one, the sheer shaving off time was my most enjoyable experience on the train.

There are other things to marvel at, like the open spaces I did not know existed just after the hub of Sandton or the Turkish mosque that is being built in Midrand but the real marvel of the train is the train itself. Sleek and smooth, the train is a sign of progress for a country that has often lagged behind in technological terms. The inside is spotless, no eating, drinking or even chewing of gum is allowed. Its greatest wonder is that it is on time, to the minute, something that public transport in South Africa has never been.

One of the biggest criticisms of the new system is that, because it only operates between a few, key centres, it leaves passengers high and dry. Slowly, a solution to that is emerging. A bus service is also operational and upon disembarkation from the train, the one headed past SuperSport Park was waiting. It’s cheap – when used in conjunction with the train – although the entire journey is not.

For a return trip from Rosebank to Centurion, a return bus ride to the ground and parking of my own vehicle at the station, I spend R98 daily - the equivalent of US $13. For the week it takes to cover a Test match, it’s doable but the average South African would not be able to sustain regular trips on the train.

As it grows, with the sector that will go to the city center still to be completed, it should become more cost effective. Its other major problem is cable theft, which has stopped the train on its tracks – literally – a number of times. Despite those speedbumps, the Gautrain remains a symbol of growth and evolution and certifies Johannesburg’s status as a world-class city.

© ESPNcricinfo

If not for Charlize Theron or Charlene Wittstock, Benoni would be as nondescript as Pietermartizburg, Welkom or Colesburg. It would be just another simple and ordinary South African town with few frills or fuss. But, the two Cs have ensured that Benoni will forever be known as the place that has produced both an Oscar winner and a princess, despite being worlds apart from Hollywood or any kind of royalty.

Willowmoore Park is a 20-minute drive from the centre of Johannesburg and almost 40 minutes away from Johannesburg’s main cricket hub, the Wanderers, on the edge of Sandton. It lies at the top of Tom Jones Road, the pulmonary vein of the East Rand town, dotted with motorcar spare shops, casual grocers, gas stations and dodgy looking beauty parlours. As far as stadiums go, Willowmoore Park is no great beauty.

Concrete is the defining feature, an acceptable material for any building, but when used in hulking masses, as it has been for this stadium, it emphasises its own garishness. The grandstand is painted green and topped with a tin roof – it could easily be mistaken for a shed. The rest of the ground is humble, with covered seats in the main pavilion and new concrete stands eating up the once ample grass embankment.

The scoreboard is not the same as any other in the country. Instead of the usual black with yellow writing, it is an electronic version of a notepad, with a crammed up, small font that makes it difficult to read. The floodlight pylons are the oldest in the country and it shows. The concrete towers look like something out of the movie Shutter Island and the bank of light bulbs is significantly smaller than anywhere else in the country. Few can remember the last time a day-night match was played here.

Given the modest facilities, it’s little wonder that Benoni seldom receives international fixtures, with the last one being an ODI against Zimbabwe. The Titans play half of their home matches here but it is not a venue they seem to enjoy. Jacques Rudolph, now in the South African Test squad, notably labelled it a “varkpan,” (an Afrikaans word that refers to the trough that pigs eat from) during their last first-class match, in which they lost by an innings to the Cobras.

Still, there is an odd charm to Willowmoore Park, largely driven by the fact that the headquarters of the Africa Cricket Association are housed within its walls. When South Africa stage African events, they are played in Benoni. Cricketers from countries like Sierra Leone, Ghana and Nigeria treat it as their own field of dreams. On this ground, Rwanda, Mozambique and Uganda have had some of their toughest battles, their most crushing defeats and their best victories. And they have had people to play it in front of.

Given the shortage of live sport in the town and number of things to do in Benoni, even the tour match between a South African Invitation XI and the Sri Lankans pulled in a crowd. Under pregnant clouds, with a chilly wind whipping through the ground, some people set up gazebos, brought in their picnic baskets and puppies and settled in for the two days of play.

The other main recreational activities in Benoni are to visit the mall or the lake over which the mall has been built. It also rumoured that Benoni has more horse stables than anywhere else in Southern Hemisphere. A survey of journalists covering the tour match revealed that no-one had seen any horses in the streets around the stadium. It would hardly be surprising if they’ve discovered some greener pastures to graze on.