Empire Cricket Booklet

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DEAN ALLEN

African team in first-class cricket - 692 against the University at Cambridge. 77 Despite the controversial timing of the tour, Logan and his players received lavish hospitality. There were race meetings, theatre visits, Henley boat races and other such diversions. The first victory for the tourists was against the London County Cricket Club which fielded the likes of W. G.Grace and W. L. Murdoch. 7 8 The London Club marked the occasion by making the South Africans honorary members and entertaining them to dinner at the Crystal Palace. 79 Other invitations were received from the MCC at Lord's as well as the various counties. For Logan, the match against the Marylebone Cricket Club was the most prestigious of the tour. 80 Despite their defeat, Logan's team gave a good account of themselves at the 'home' of imperial cricket - a fact not lost on the correspondent who accompanied the team: 'Two of the greatest ambitions of the sports-loving youth of South Africa ... those who love cricket and the Sport of Kings ... have been to play at Lord's and to see the Derby. Well, eleven of us have realised both of these ambitions and are prepared to die happy ! ' 8 1 The team's presence did not mean much to the English cricket public. Like other teams travelling to England, they were not regarded as sufficiently near to the Australian standard to command attention, and their matches were viewed on a par with county cricket. 8 2 Individually, however, several players receivedrecognition.Kotze's fast bowling impressed, whilst Halliwell's wicketkeeping endeared him to spectators. 'The South Africans have reason to congratulate themselves,' was one cricket writer's response. 8 3 As strangers to turf wickets, the tourists were undoubtedly the stronger for the experience. Conan Doyle and Controversy One of the most prominent propagandists opposed to W.T.Stead and other anti-war voices in the media was cricket enthusiast, and some-time cricketer, Arthur Conan Doyle. 84 The creator of Sherlock Holmes is not the first Victorian writer we associate with promoting the aims of empire. Rudyard Kipling, with his South African association, and Rider Haggard come to mind more readily with their tales of adventure in India

coming here in 1900, and had to change their plans early in the Spring, after a full and in every way admirable programme had been secured for them.' 73 Logan was careful to ensure that his 1901 team contained the essential blend of socialite, gentlemen cricketers alongside more skilled players. The tourists, referred to in the press variously as 'the South Africans', 'the Colonials' and 'Logan's team', were led by socialite Murray Bisset and contained the internationally renowned wicketkeeper E. A. Halliwell, as well as the South African all-rounder Jimmy Sinclair. At Logan's stipulation, the team was managed by an ailing George Lohmann, in what was to prove his final tour. If proof was needed of the Scot's personal control of the tour, among the fifteen players selected was his son, Jimmy Logan, who had no experience of first-class cricket. 74 Another member of the squad was Johannes Jacobus Kotze, an Afrikaner and one of the fastest bowlers to appear in first-class cricket in South Africa. With the conflict in South Africa still raging, Kotze later acknowledged the difficult circumstances under which the tour took place. As the war continued into its second year, there were doubts as to the wisdom of sending a team over in 1901. Some years later, Kotze revealed how 'it was suggested that the tour should be again abandoned and the English authorities were advised accordingly. The answer was that the team must come under any circumstances, or otherwise the entire county programme would be dislocated for the season.' 7 5 Even the departure of the team from Cape Town was inauspicious. Apart from the country being in a state of war, Cape Town was affected by the bubonic plague. On account of plague regulations in the docks area, the team departed without the customary send-off. 76 They arrived at Southampton on 3 May 1901, and went on to play 25 matches over the next three months. Despite a poor start, losing five of their first six matches, the tourists recorded thirteen victories, nine defeats, two draws and a tie during a tour that took in Scotland and Ireland as well as the major English regions. Five of the victories and the tied match were achieved in the fifteen first-class fixtures. Included was the highest total ever made by a South