Empire Cricket Booklet

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JONTY WINCH AND RICHARD PARRY

Nourse received assistance in finding employment. Through necessity, attention was again focused on Llewellyn. There were 'several years in which his bowling was not quite as sharp as it used to be' although his batting remained reliable. It is possible that the rejection he suffered in South Africa had an initial impact on his confidence. Overseas it was thought that 'the heavy work which has so frequently fallen to his lot [at Hampshire] must occasionally have affected his play to no small extent'. 68 Llewell yn was nevertheless far from being a spent force and a word from Bailey about a tour to Australia might well have inspired another memorable season. 'When Hampshire finished sixth,' reported Cricket of the 1910 season, 'Llewellyn was indisputably the strong man of the side.' 69 He scored 1 110 runs (average 29.21) and captured 133 wickets (20.45). Although SACA did not know that he would be named one of Wisden's 'Five Cricketers of the Year', its members were aware that Llewellyn was in good form when they met on 10 August. Delegates elected a selection committee for the Australian tour and settled on an all-Transvaal committee comprising the SACA vice-chairman (Gordon Beves) and four other members (George Allsop, George Kempis, Frank Mitchell and Sinclair). As soon as the main meeting ended, the selection committee gathered to deal with urgent matters regarding the tour. They immediately 'resolved to ask the Association to discuss the advisability of inviting C. B. Llewell yn , now in England, to become a member of the team'. They further recommended 'that Mr Llewellyn be paid a salary of £300 for the tour'. The secretary of the South African Cricket Association wasthen'instructed to inviteMessrsA. W. Nourse and A. E. Vogler to accompany the team as professionals at an out-of-pocket allowance of ten shillings per day and a salary of £150 for the tour'. 70 Little more than a week later, at a meeting of the executive committee, Bailey was added to the panel of selectors. Allsop then moved that a cable be sent to the Hampshire County Cricket Club asking them 'to give C. B. Llewellyn leave to accompany the team to Australia'. Sinclair seconded the motion and it was carried unanimously. Sinclair thereafter proposed

opportunity to play Test cricket on a regular basis would also have enhanced his own game. Bailey's influence enabled South Africa to gain equal partner status in the formation of the Imperial Cricket Conference but he knew that his country's credibility on the cricket field would be tested by the tour to Australia in 1910/11 and the triangular tournament with England and Australia in 1912. 65 The magnitude of the task was not lost on the Transvaal-dominated SACA. They realised that the strength of the national squad depended on the Transvaal where cracks were beginning to appear in a strong but ageing cricket side. They had won the Currie Cup on four successive occasions between 1902/03 and 1906/07 but in the 1908/09 final, a defeat was suffered at the hands of Western Province at Newlands, albeit by only six runs. There were other factors militating against South Africa's progress during the early 1900s, notably disillusionment amongst players. 'Umpire' in Natal Mercury wrote an emotive piece in which he argued: 'I do not really believe that Johannesburg attracts [leading players] to emich Johannesburg cricket, but for the good· of South African cricket.' He praised Johannesburg with regard to Vogler and Llewellyn, in that it had'got at least one of them back and nearly induced the other to return to the country of his birth'. The desire to entice Llewellyn to return obviously still existed but 'Umpire's' main argument revolved around another key player.'Now we hear,' the article continued, 'that our own champion "Dave" Nourse is leaving his cricket country for the land of his birth ... And why does Nourse want to go Surrey - not because he wishes to leave Durban. It is because the inducements offered are so much greater than can be offered in Durban ... What has Australia done for some of their tip-toppers? What about Noble within the last week? Cannot South Africa do the same for ... Nourse?' 66 In fact, Nourse never did join Surrey. The Australian Tour, 1910/11, and the Triangular Tournament, 1912 Various players needed to be looked after if the country was to do well in Australia and at the triangular tournament. 67 Vogler in particular and