Khanyiso Tshwaku | In the age of shrinking economics and matches, outgrounds still matter

At Buffalo Park, East London

It's maybe a good thing that South Africa isn't as vast and as cricket-crazy as India, for the stadium race there has turned into an art form.

In the race to modernise or build new grounds to get international matches, the majority of India's stadiums are concrete behemoths with no soul to them.

Gone are the days of the quaint out-grounds with tent coverings and rickety wire fences that looked ready to snap when India was on top of the opposition.

It makes one appreciate the fact that most of our out-grounds, despite their varying conditions, have retained the charm that makes them so adored by locals.

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The City Oval in Pietermaritzburg is just one of those grounds where touching it up significantly to modernise the ground simply won't do it, unless it's to install a new drainage system

With its tree in the outfield, it maintains a particular charm that is only found at Amstelveen in the Netherlands in first-class cricket now that St Lawrence's Lime in Canterbury, Kent, was claimed by father time.

Boland Park in Paarl is the only ground in the country that's situated in a township, providing an unparalleled accessibility.

Outside of its searing summer heat that makes day games a health hazard, it's a much-loved stadium and one that's been heartily adopted by the teams that call it home.

We must remember how the Paarl Rocks turned the ground into a fortress in the Mzansi Super League, using the unique conditions to boss teams.

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There's also the advantage of Paarl being in the winelands, where visitors can and will have another distraction if