Empire Cricket Booklet

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JAMES LOGAN

against a Transvaal XV at Pretoria. Not wishing to be associated with the English and having little care for cricket, Kruger declined the invitation. 63 Following their spell in the Boer heartland, and the defeat of South Africa by 32 runs in the First Test at the Wanderers, the squad headed to Kimberley to play a match against Griqualand West on 20 and 21 February 1899. Here they were met by Logan who joined them on the long and historic journey north to Rhodesia. This was in essence 'his' team and with aspirations of extending his business empire to the north, he was not going to let the opportunity pass. Only months earlier, when asked about Rhodesia, Logan was on record as saying he had 'no doubt as to its future as a great country, and an agricultural field of great value and importance ... As a colonist, I believe in Rhodesia.' 64 Prior to the tourists' arrival, heavy rains had caused havoc on the primitive roads and the link between Bulawayo and Salisbury was becoming increasingly treacherous. By March, the Zeederberg coaches were being bogged down or held up at rivers and were taking ten to twelve days, instead of the usual four, to make the trip between the two towns. Five Salisbury cricketers - Henry Taberer, Eric Sharpe, Colin Duff, R. B. Beatson and G. Finch - had allowed themselves a fortnight to make the journey to play Hawke's team. The flooded Hunyani River, however, stood in their way. The exploits of these players to make the game has now gone down in cricketing folklore. Tanser provides a colourful description in his book A Scantling of Time: The only way for the men to cross was by establishing communications with the other side for the wire rope which carried a skip had bee� broken. Taberer, who it was said could throw a cricket ball a hundred yards while standing in a barrel, overcame the difficulty by hurling a ball, to which a cord had been nailed, across the river. Then a stronger cord was passed over, then a rope and finally a wire-rope to which a skip could be attached. Each player, with his cricket gear, then pulled himself across. When the coach attempted the passage the mules were washed down away from the drift, and the driver had to struggle to get them to the bank. Wet and miserable, the

of players had been in vain. In October, he wrote to the Johannesburg Star from his base in London: I am very much afraid that it will be utterly impossible for me to bring out a team this season. Of course I could bring one out, but I fear it would be one not acceptable to the cricketers of South Africa, and I think it will be better not to have one at all than one which would not come up to our expectations. I am going to have another interview with Lord Hawke and there might still be some small hope of my raising a team, but I am afraid the chances of my doing so are very remote. 60 In the event, the pessimism was unfounded and a team was hastily assembled to arrive in Cape Town aboard the Scot on 20 December 1898. The tourists, 'a good mix of socially acceptable amateur "gentlemen" and professional "players"' were, according to Knowles, 'the equivalent of a good county side'. 61 Hawke's influence on the team was again evident with the selection of his young protege, Pelham 'Plum' Warner, and Hugh Bromley-Davenport of Middlesex, who had both toured with Hawke previously. Frank Milligan and Schofield Haigh were Yorkshire players, while C. E.M.Wilson, another Yorkshireman, and A. G. Archer were close friends of Hawke. 62 Continued expansion in the gold and diamond fields to the north had brought many changes since Hawke's previous tour. The railway line had been extended from Kimberley to Bulawayo in 1897, and for the first time the tourists were to play two matches in Rhodesia. With players such as Jimmy Sinclair emerging, South African cricket had also shown improvement. However, South Africa's political situation would again cast a shadow upon the tour. Rhodes had resigned as prime minister of the Cape Colony as a result of the Jameson Raid but was again involved in Cape politics. Lord Alfred Milner, governor of the Cape Colony and high commissioner for southern Africa, was in London to discuss the Transvaal problem with the colonial secretary Joseph Chamberlain. The South African War was imminent. Insensitive to the political divisions that existed, Hawke invited President Paul Kruger to the match