Empire Cricket Booklet

CHAPTER TWELVE

The Googly, Gold and the Empire The Role of South African Cricket in the Imperial Project, 1904-1912

RICHARD PARRY AND DALE SLATER

power in the imperial cricket community, but also strengthened the economic and political ties of empire.

Introduction Cricket is a highly technical game that has on occasion been subject to dramatic innovations in its methods, whose impact changed drastically the internal economy of the game, and sometimes had ramifications that extended far beyond the cricket field. Bodyline in the 1930s was an example of one such strategic innovation, producing serious diplomatic tension between Australia and the mother country . 1 And, in the Edwardian 'Golden Age' (1890 1914), where improved pitches, equipment and technique had given batsmen a palpable advantage over bowlers, bowlers produced in short order two distinct ripostes whose effects were to bring the game, at least until the 1930s, back into some kind of balance. One was John Barton King's baseball derived swing bowling; the other was the googly. The invention and implementation of the googly in the early years of the twentieth century brought a new element into cricket - and also had a significant effect on relations within the imperial community. This chapter considers the development of the googly, and its impact on the fabric of South African cricket in the period between 1904 and 1912. It also looks at the way in which South African cricket was linked into developments in the post-South African War reconstruction period, and how the success of the South African googly bowlers not only enabled the region to shoulder its way into the corridors of

The Googly and its Reception: 'Ridicule, Abuse, Contempt and Incredulity ... ' In the 300-year cricketing war between bat and ball, the advantage has progressively lain with the form er, at least since country landowners began to hit the ball instead of merely betting on its destination. Faced with a wooden obstacle broad enough to establish and maintain dominance and with increasingly un sympathetic wickets, bowlers have been forced to live on their wits as well as their skill, and to sow fear and doubt in the minds of their adversaries. Fear harnessed through speed and bounce has always been a crucial factor in the balance between bat and ball, but innovations, such as the googly, were about engendering doubt rather than fear. Bowling skill involves the use of pace, swerving the ball in the air, jagging it off the pitch at an angle, or spinning it in either direction and, of course, ensuring that the ball pitches 'on a length'. In most cases it is clear to a vigilant batsman what a bowler is trying to achieve, even if the desired effect is not achieved with every ball. The googly, however, developed an entirely new dimension to the bowler's art. A googly