An English cricket team managed by Major R. G. Warton toured South Africa from December 1888 to March 1889. Warton was a retired British Army officer who had served on the general staff in Cape Town and was a member of the Western Province Cricket Club. He had been invited by local enthusiasts to bring a team of English first-class cricketers to the country.[1] He negotiated with local agents called Billy Simkins and William Milton, who obtained sponsorship from Sir Donald Currie, founder of the Castle Shipping Line. They made all the arrangements while Warton travelled to England and recruited players for the team which, at the time, was known as R. G. Warton's XI.[2]
Cricket is a bat-and-ball game played between two teams of eleven players on a field at the centre of which is a 20-metre (22-yard) pitch with a wicket at each end, each comprising two bails balanced on three stumps. The batting side scores runs by striking the ball bowled at the wicket with the bat, while the bowling and fielding side tries to prevent this and dismiss each player. Means of dismissal include being bowled, when the ball hits the stumps and dislodges the bails, and by the fielding side catching the ball after it is hit by the bat, but before it hits the ground. When ten players have been dismissed, the innings ends and the teams swap roles. The game is adjudicated by two umpires, aided by a third umpire and match referee in international matches. They communicate with two off-field scorers who record the match's statistical information.
Lieutenant-Colonel Robert Gardner Warton umpired two Test matches in South Africa in 1889.
The British Army is the principal land warfare force of the United Kingdom, a part of British Armed Forces. As of 2018, the British Army comprises just over 81,500 trained regular (full-time) personnel and just over 27,000 trained reserve (part-time) personnel.
The captain of a cricket team, often referred to as the skipper, is the appointed leader, having several additional roles and responsibilities over and above those of the other players. As in other sports, the captain is usually experienced and has good communication skills, and is likely to be one of the most regular members of the team, as the captain often has a say in team selection. Before the game the captains toss for innings. During the match the captain decides the team's batting order, who will bowl each over, and where each fielder will be positioned. While the captain has the final say, decisions are often collaborative. A captain's knowledge of the complexities of cricket strategy and tactics, and shrewdness in the field, may contribute significantly to the team's success.
Sir Charles Aubrey Smith, CBE was an English Test cricketer who became a stage and film actor, acquiring a niche as the officer-and-gentleman type, as in the first sound version of The Prisoner of Zenda (1937). In Hollywood, he organised British actors into a cricket team, much intriguing local spectators.
Robert Abel, nicknamed "The Guv'nor", was a Surrey and England opening batsman who was one of the most prolific run-getters in the early years of the County Championship. He was the first England player to "carry his bat" – opening the batting and remaining not out at the end of an innings – through a Test innings, and the first player to score 2000 runs in consecutive seasons – which he did each season from 1895 to 1902. In 1899 for Surrey against Somerset at The Oval, Abel carried his bat through an innings of 811, the highest total for which this feat has been achieved. His 357* in that innings remains a Surrey record, and was the highest score made at The Oval until Len Hutton scored 364 in 1938. Abel also played a record number of first-class matches in a season – 41 in 1902.
Two of their matches were against a team representative of all South Africa and, in 1897, it was officially decided that these should retrospectively be assigned Test match status. As such, the first is South Africa's inaugural Test and, given that there had been no first-class cricket in the country before 1889, it is the inaugural first-class match played in South Africa.[4]
The South African national cricket team also known as Proteas, is administered by Cricket South Africa. South Africa is a full member of the International Cricket Council (ICC) with Test, One-Day International (ODI) and Twenty20 International (T20I) status.
Test cricket is the form of the sport of cricket with the longest match duration, and is considered the game's highest standard. Test matches are played between national representative teams that have been granted ‘Test status’, as determined and conferred by the International Cricket Council (ICC). The term Test stems from the fact that the long, gruelling matches are mentally and physically testing. Two teams of 11 players each play a four-innings match, which may last up to five days. It is generally considered the most complete examination of a team's endurance and ability.
First-class cricket is an official classification of the highest-standard international or domestic matches in the sport of cricket. A first-class match is of three or more days' scheduled duration between two sides of eleven players each and is officially adjudged to be worthy of the status by virtue of the standard of the competing teams. Matches must allow for the teams to play two innings each although, in practice, a team might play only one innings or none at all.
The term "test cricket" (in the sense of a test of team strength) was new in 1889 and was first used by Wisden Cricketers' Almanack in that year's edition. Allocation of retrospective status was bound to be controversial and, in Rowland Bowen's history, he argued that standards in South Africa were so poor that the two matches should not have been rated first-class, let alone Test. As he pointed out, South Africa's tour of England in 1894 was not first-class. Furthermore, when M. J. Luckin wrote the first history of South African cricket in 1914, he considered the 1889 matches to be minor.[5]
Wisden Cricketers' Almanack is a cricket reference book published annually in the United Kingdom. The description "bible of cricket" was first used in the 1930s by Alec Waugh in a review for the London Mercury. In October 2013, an all-time Test World XI was announced to mark the 150th anniversary of Wisden Cricketers' Almanack.
Major Rowland Francis Bowen was a cricket researcher, historian and writer.
Tour summary
Warton's XI played a total of twenty matches but only the two retrospective Tests are recognised as first-class. This is because 17 of the games were played against odds, the home team in each case fielding from 15 to 22 players against eleven on the English team. Although the final match on the tour was 11-a-side against South Africa, it was a two-day filler (a first-class match must be scheduled for at least three days). Many of the matches were played on matting as, with rudimentary pitch preparation, surfaces were uneven; they tended to be grassy in coastal areas and hard soli in the interior.[1]
Warton's XI met sides from four of the South African provinces: Eastern Province, Natal, Transvaal and Western Province. They also played teams representing the cities of Cape Town, Durban, Johannesburg, Kimberley, Pietermaritzburg and Port Elizabeth. Even playing against odds, the English team were expected to win all the provincial and city matches but they had four surprising defeats in their first six matches against Cape Town, Kimberley (twice) and Port Elizabeth. They nevertheless won the two Test matches convincingly.
Cape Town is a legislative capital of South Africa, colloquially named the Mother City. It is the legislative capital of South Africa and primate city of the Western Cape province. It forms part of the City of Cape Town metropolitan municipality.
Durban is the third most populous city in South Africa—after Johannesburg and Cape Town—and the largest city in the South African province of KwaZulu-Natal. Located on the east coast of South Africa, Durban is famous for being the busiest port in the country. It is also seen as one of the major centres of tourism because of the city's warm subtropical climate and extensive beaches. Durban forms part of the eThekwini Metropolitan Municipality, which includes neighboring towns and has a population of about 3.44 million, making the combined municipality one of the biggest cities on the Indian Ocean coast of the African continent. It is also the second most important manufacturing hub in South Africa after Johannesburg. In 2015, Durban was recognised as one of the New7Wonders Cities. The city was heavily hit by flooding over 4 days from 18 April 2019, leading to 70 deaths and R650 000 000 in damage. Durban was recently named the new darling of South Africa due to its all year round warm weather, long stretches of beaches, traditional cuisine, lively markets, world class hotels and arts districts.
Johannesburg, informally known as Jozi or Jo'burg, is the largest city in South Africa and one of the 50 largest urban areas in the world. It is the provincial capital and largest city of Gauteng, which is the wealthiest province in South Africa. While Johannesburg is not one of South Africa's three capital cities, it is the seat of the Constitutional Court. The city is located in the mineral-rich Witwatersrand range of hills and is the centre of large-scale gold and diamond trade.
The tour was successful in legacy terms as it brought South Africa into international cricket and provided a stimulus for their domestic game. Sir Donald Currie as sponsor was so impressed that he decided to donate the trophy named after him, the Currie Cup, as the prize for winning South Africa's domestic championship. For the 1888–89 season, the English team were asked to award it to the team which had excelled most against them. They chose Kimberley. In 1889–90, the competition proper began with a challenge by Transvaal to Kimberley.[1] A shorter-term benefit for South Africa was that Frank Hearne decided to emigrate to the country, mainly for health reasons,[6] and became a successful coach as well as representing South Africa in Test matches in the 1890s.[3] Financially, the tour was not a success as it failed to make a profit and Wisden noted that "it was never intended, or considered necessary, to take out a representative English team for a first trip to the Cape".[7][8]
English squad
The English team at the start of the tour
Warton's XI consisted of fifteen players who were something of a mixed bag given that George Ulyett had already played in 22 Tests against Australia whereas, at the other extreme, six of the players were not registered with any county club. Bobby Abel, Johnny Briggs, Maurice Read and Harry Wood had played Test cricket against Australia. Monty Bowden, Arnold Fothergill, Frank Hearne and Aubrey Smith were established county players.
Cameron Skinner was a comedian who accompanied the party to provide entertainment but nevertheless took part in four of the odds matches. He never played in a first-class match. Neither did Major Warton himself; he played in the final (fill-up) match only on the tour. James Roberts, another occasional player, took part in the first odds match but then had to return home owing to the death of his father and Ulyett was contracted to replace him.[2] Roberts made a single first-class appearance for Middlesex in 1892.
Charles Coventry, Basil Grieve and Emile McMaster all played against South Africa and so are officially credited as Test players despite never playing in any other first-class matches. Coventry was a career soldier who did play for Worcestershire, then a minor county, in 1886 and for some local or itinerant teams. Grieve and McMaster were former Harrow School pupils who both played for the school team in the 1870s. There is no record of McMaster ever playing for any other team except Warton's XI. In 1892, Grieve played in minor cricket for a team called the Ne'er-do-wells.
Squad details below state the player's age at the beginning of the tour, his batting hand, his type of bowling, and his County Championship team at the time:
South Africa selected a total of fourteen players for the two matches, all of whom were making not only their Test match debuts but also their first-class debuts. Domestic first-class cricket began in South Africa in the 1889–90 season but none of these players went on to have extensive first-class careers.
The greatest number of first-class matches played was eleven by Bernard Tancred, who was a cousin of wicket-keeper Fred Smith. Gus Kempis played in five matches for Natal between 27 December 1889 and 9 January 1890, but he died in Mozambique four months later, aged 24.
Only three players (Milton, Smith and Vintcent) played for South Africa again after this season and they totalled three appearances each in their respective Test careers. Milton and Vintcent both played against England in 1891–92. Smith, who played against Lord Hawke's touring team in 1895–96 had the longest Test career span.
The details for each player below state his age at the beginning of the English tour, his batting hand, his type of bowling, and his provincial team at the time:
At the time, the match was billed as Major Warton's XI versus a South African XI. It was retrospectively given Test match status and renamed South Africa v England. 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 as the matting wicket did not induce high scores. Around 3,000 spectators attended the first day's play. Wisden commented on a good all-round performance by the Englishmen with special mentions for Abel and Smith.
scheduled for three days, the match was played on green matting and finished just before 15:30 on the second day
C. R. Deare stood as umpire on the first day and was replaced by Henry Webster on the second. All eleven South African and six English players made their Test debuts.
Second Test
Although South Africa was a very weak team, the performance by Johnny Briggs who took fifteen wickets for 28 runs in the match was exceptional. Abel made his third century of the tour. Bowden became England's youngest ever Test captain, aged 23 years 144 days. He replaced Smith who had developed a fever. Tancred became the first batsman to carry his bat in a Test match in scoring 26 not out. South Africa were obliged to follow on, but were again quickly dismissed. Briggs' second innings wickets were all bowled.
scheduled for three days, the match was completed in two
W. H. Ashley, W. H. M. Richards and N. H. Theunissen made their Test debuts for South Africa; J. E. P. McMaster made his Test debut for England
Related Research Articles
International cricket in South Africa between 1971 and 1981 consisted of four private tours arranged by English sports promoter Derrick Robins, two tours by a private team called the "International Wanderers", and one women's Test match. The apartheid policy followed by the South African Governments of the day meant that no Test match playing nation was willing to tour, thereby depriving world cricket of leading stars such as Graeme Pollock, Barry Richards, Clive Rice and Eddie Barlow.
Frank Hearne was an English born cricketer. One of the few men to play Test cricket for more than one country, he played for both England and South Africa. He was a member of the Hearne family of cricketers who played first-class cricket between 1879 and 1904 for Kent County Cricket Club and Western Province.
Arnold James Fothergill was an English professional cricketer who played first-class cricket for Somerset County Cricket Club and the MCC in a career which spanned from 1870 until 1892. A left-arm fast-medium pace bowler, he appeared for England in two Test matches in 1889.
Henry "Harry" Wood was an English cricketer who briefly played Test cricket for England, and enjoyed a successful career for Kent and Surrey that spanned the years between 1876 and 1900. A right-handed batsman who also bowled part-time right-arm fast, Wood was primarily a wicketkeeper. He was Wisden Cricketer of the Year in 1891. Although his batting average across his entire first-class career was 16.94, his Test batting average was 68.00 thanks to scores of 59 and 134* in his final two innings. His average is statistically the highest of any England Test player, however a standard qualification of twenty innings played deducts him from the recognised lists. He was the first wicketkeeper to score a Test century.
Alec Hearne was a member of the famous cricketing Hearne family. He played as a professional for Kent County Cricket Club between 1884 and 1906 and made one Test match appearance for England. He was an all-rounder who was named as one of Wisden's five Cricketers of the Year in 1894. His father, George played cricket for Middlesex during the 1860s and brothers George and Frank also played Test cricket, as did his cousin, John Thomas Hearne.
George Gibbons Hearne was an English professional cricketer who played first-class cricket for Kent County Cricket Club between 1875 and 1895. He also played in one Test match for England against South Africa in 1891/92. Hearne was part of the famous cricketing Hearne family. His brothers Alec and Frank also played Test match cricket.
Gustav Adolph Kempis was a South African cricketer who played in South Africa's inaugural Test match in March 1889.
Nicolaas Hendrik Christiaan de Jong Theunissen was a South African cricketer who played in one Test in 1889.
George Alfred Lawrence Hearne was an English born South African cricketer who played Test cricket.
An England team toured Australia between November 1920 and March 1921. The tour was organised by the Marylebone Cricket Club and matches outside the Tests were played under the MCC name. The tour itinerary consisted of 13 first-class matches, including a series of 5 Test matches against Australia in which The Ashes were at stake.
This article describes the history of South African cricket from its known beginnings until the end of the First World War in 1918.
The Australia national cricket team toured England in 1884. The team is officially termed the Fourth Australians, following three previous tours in the 1878, 1880 and 1882 seasons. The 1884 tour was a private venture by the thirteen players who each invested an agreed sum to provide funding, none of Australia's colonial cricket associations being involved. Billy Murdoch captained the team and George Alexander acted as player-manager. The Australians played a total of 32 matches in England, 31 of which have first-class status.
The inaugural South African cricket tour of England took place in the 1894 season.
An English cricket team, organised and led by the Surrey amateur Walter Read, toured South Africa from December 1891 to March 1892. There is uncertainty about the status of South African cricket as a whole in the late nineteenth century and so Read's matches against the main provincial teams, such as Transvaal and Western Province, are not rated first-class. The only first-class match on the tour is one in March against a South African national team which was retrospectively awarded Test status. Read's XI is therefore designated England for this match and they won the Test by an innings and 189 runs. The South African Test team was captained by William Henry Milton.
Two English cricket teams toured Australia in 1887-88. They are generally known as A. Shrewsbury's XI and G. F. Vernon's XI. Shrewsbury's XI visited New Zealand in March.
An England cricket team toured Australia in the 1897–98 season to play a five-match Test series against the Australia national cricket team. The team was captained by Andrew Stoddart and, except in the Test matches when it was called England, it was generally known as A. E. Stoddart's XI.
John Arnold Einem Hickson was an English first-class cricketer and who umpired one Test match in South Africa in 1889.
The 1889–90 Currie Cup was the inaugural edition of the Currie Cup, the premier first-class cricket tournament in South Africa. The 1889–90 competition involved just two teams, Transvaal and Kimberley. The two sides played a single, three-day match, which was won by Transvaal by six wickets.
Note: during the isolation of South Africa from international cricket between 1970 and 1991, there were seven unofficial tours (italicised below) by various teams, known as the South African rebel tours.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply. Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.
