Empire Cricket Booklet

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R.M. POORE

months, almost all Ndebele home areas were seized by settlers, and in their place unsuitable reserves established. Humiliated by the rapid changes and the destruction of their livelihoods, and stimulated by a severe outbreak of rinderpest and a drought, the Ndebele responded in March 1896 with violence against their dispossessors. 21 Within two weeks, the murders of a large number of local white settlers and the loss of property provoked a response, and on 12 April the governor, Lord Grey, appealed for 500 imperial troops in addition to the force already being raised locally. Two weeks later, Poore went ahead to make arrangements for the disembarkation of the force in East London. By early May, the units were in Mafeking, and several weeks passed before the orders came to move. Poore's squadron made up the fifth marching party, and on 1 July he boarded the train for Lobatsi, having recently been promoted to captain. At the beginning of August, Poore's contingent was met by Lord Grey and his party, and was ordered to investigate a disturbance on the Gwai river. They met up with a local force and combed the bush, at one time sighting the enemy. After a week they returned to Bulawayo, where Poore wrote in his diary that: although the expedition did not produce a fight for us, I believe it was a great success. We marched without wagons for eight days, which is a thing people around here thought imperial troops were incapable of doing. We marched 23-25 miles each day, about 150 Matabeles were killed, 350 women brought in as prisoners and about 200 goats captured. The taking of women is important as they do all the work and the men become discontented when they have not got their women. 22 For several weeks, the Hussars searched for the Ndebele and on 12 September were joined by Col. R. S. Baden-Powell, who took over as the head of the column. He divided the men into three groups, and Poore and Baden-Powell moved off into the dense forest towards the junction of the Umvungu and Shangani rivers. The difficult conditions took their toll on the horses and men, and at times the horses were too tired to be ridden. Poore and Baden-Powell

confidence. At 58, however, Poore received a fine ball from Lohmann and was bowled for 11. His departure signalled a collapse andjust before nightfall the home side was all out for 93. South Africa were later set 318 to win,but with Poore top scoring with 10, they were all out for a feeble 30. The Transvaal committee responsible for selecting the South African team for the Second Test in Johan nesburg was· plagued with· difficulties from the outset. Cape Town Cricket Club would not release James Middleton, who had taken nine wickets in the First Test, A. B. Tancred gave notice that he could not appear, and several others had business obligations, so that there were five more debutantes in the team, including C. B. Llewellyn. England made 482, before South Africa replied, Poore coming in at 19/1 to considerable applause. He played confidently but after contributing to South Africa's only SO-partnership of the whole series and making his Test highest score of 20, he was out and South Africa slipped badly to end 331 behind. Hawke enforced the follow on and C. Heseltine and G. Lohmann worked their way through the order so that England won by an innings and 197 runs to take a 2-0 lead in the series. To fill in time after the game, a team of Poore, S. M. J. Woods, C. B. Fry, and C. Heseltine took on members of the local polo club at polo-hockey, one side mounted and the other not. After some doubts about his availability (it was reported that he had declined but reversed this after urgent representations from the Western Province Cricket Union) Poore proceeded to Cape Town for the Third Test match. With the English players catching well, South Africa were again beaten, this time by an innings and 33 runs, to lose the series 3-0. Elsewhere in southern Africa, events were taking place which pushed sport into the background. In Rhodesia, towards the end of March 1896, a number of settlers were murdered in the Umzingwani district of Matabeleland and the towns of Bulawayo, Gwelo, Belingwe and Tuli became increasingly threatened by the Ndebele. For three years, Matabeleland had seen development unparalleled in southern Africa. Railways had been built, and land and cattle taken into white ownership, without respect for the provisions of the arrangements negotiated between settlers and the Ndebele in 1894. Within a few