1888/9 South African cricket season
From Freepedia
The 1888/9 South African cricket season saw the first two first-class cricket matches played in South Africa. However, this designation was given many years later. The season saw the first tour by an England team that was accorded first-class status. The tour was managed by Major Warton and captained by C Aubrey Smith, under whose name the team played. The two games against representative South African sides were later designated as Test matches, thereby making them the first two Tests South Africa played. England won both of them easily.
Contents |
First-class season overview
The English touring team of 1888/9 consisted of 7 county-standard players and 6 of good clubs standard. Altham compared them to a weak English county. The South African team was extremely weak, and these games were not recognised as Tests by England at the time. Indeed Wisden's Cricketers Almanack noted that "it was never intended, or considered necessary, to take out a representative English team for a first trip to the Cape". The England team did, however, include some stars such as Johnny Briggs and Bobby Abel, and George Ulyett, who replaced a player who had to return from South Africa due to a family bereavement.
Although the English team is said not to have paid its expenses, it was otherwise financially successful. The cricketers were warmly welcomed. England were led by Aubrey Smith, who became the most widely known of England's cricket captains as a result of become a "B" list Hollywood star. They played all their matches, except the two that later came to be regarded as Test matches, against odds, and lost some of them too. Of the 19 games they played, they won 13, including the 2 that later became recognised as Test matches, losing 4 and abandoning 2.
The matches
First Test - South Africa v England (12-13 March 1889)
| Image:Cape Colony flag.png South Africa | 84 | & | 129 | England won by 8 wickets |
|
AB Tancred 29 |
AB Tancred 29 |
St George's Park, Port Elizabeth, South Africa | ||
| Image:England flag large.png England | 148 | & | 67/2 | |
|
R Abel 46 |
R Abel 23* |
In the first Test, which was played on a green matting wicket in Port Elizabeth, South African captain Owen Dunell won the toss against Aubrey Smith and chose to bat. The game did not last long: The matting wicket did not induce high scores, with England's 148 in their first innings being the highest score. Around 3,000 spectators attended the first day. The game ended at 3.30pm on the second day with a crushing win for England. Scorecard
Second Test - South Africa v England (25-26 March 1889)
| Image:England flag large.png England | 292 | England won by an innings and 202 runs | ||
|
|
Newlands, Cape Town, South Africa | |||
| Image:Cape Colony flag.png South Africa | 47 | & | 43 | |
|
AB Tancred 26 |
Monty Bowden became England's youngest ever Test captain aged 23 in the Second Test at Newlands, Cape Town, replacing an injured Smith. Bowden won the toss and chose to bat. 120 from opener Bobby Abel helped England to 292 all out on the first day. The South Africans then lost a quick wicket to finish day one on 2 for 1. South Africa were then totally humiliated on the second day. Johnny Briggs took 7 for 17 as South Africa fell to 47. They then followed-on, with Briggs then taking 8 for 11 in the second innings as the hosts were all out for 43. Briggs's second innings wickets were all bowled, setting a Test record that still has not been bettered. Scorecard
Monty Bowden
Bowden died 3 years later after being trampled by his own oxen after falling from his cart (he had stayed in South Africa), possibly as a result of an epileptic fit, may not have known he ever played Test cricket. It is said that his body, which was taken to Umtali hospital, had to be protected from marauding lions before being interred in a coffin made from old whiskey cases.
See also
Reference
- CricketArchive
External link
