Empire Cricket Booklet

302

NOTES

75 TKP Book 157 at 100 s .v. 'Zyl, van, Coert Theodore'.

by Joseph; De Villiers was caught and bowled by Perera for 8; Du Plessis made 4 before he was caught by McHeyzer off the bowling of Joseph; and Otto was the last man out for 1, clean bowled by Joseph. There were 6 extras and the Boers were all out for 66, which meant that they lost by 141 runs. Joseph had the other two wickets (9-2-18-2). E. A. Joseph was one of eleven brothers who played cricket. Five of the brothers played inter-college cricket.In 1903, he and his ten brothers made cricket history in Ceylon when they, the 'Eleven Brothers', met a first-class team, Bloomfield Cricket and Athletic Club, in Colombo. The Joseph brothers won the match by five runs: see Perera, Sri Lankan Cricket, 87-88. not mentioning that the Boers' wish to arrive two days before the game to have a practice on the turf pitch at the Nondescripts field was not granted. They only arrived in Mt. Lavinia on the evening before the match. The train journey from Diyatalawa to Colombo (even in 2007) is a taxing nine-hour affair, with stops at nearly 30 stations while the railway line descends nearly 6 000 feet en route to the capital. Mt. Lavinia, where the Boers stayed, is situated a further 15 minutes south of Colombo. One can but speculate on the effect that this journey had doctor, who played Scottish county cricket for Aberdeenshire, scored 29 and 30 for an All-Scotland XI against Murray Bisset's South Africans: see Perera, Sri Lankan Cricket, 85. Six years later, the South African Test cricketer, Dr Patrick George Thornton (who played in one Test for South Africa against Australia in 1902/03) was seconded for service with the Ceylon government at the end of his term with the British government in South Africa. He played for an All-Ceylon team in 1908: Ibid., 99. wonderful bowling fi gur es of 18-4-31-8. Perera took ep endent was a trifle unfair in on the Boers' performance in the match. 91 However, this was not the last link between South African and Ceylonese cricket.In 1902, James Arthur Scharenguivel, a Ceylonese cricketer and medical 88 Ibid. 89 Tennant, Diary. 90 Perhaps the Ceylon Ind

76 In his diary, Tennant refers to Van Zijl as 'stupid'.

77 Luckin, History of South African Cricket, 803.

78 Perera mentions that the Boers travelled from Diyatalawa to Colombo under British military escort, but once they arrived in Colombo, they were on parole under the charge of Commandant van Zijl: Perera Sri Lankan Cricket, 84. In his diary, Tennant

does not make any mention of British guards

travelling with them.

79 During a recent visit to Mt. Lavinia, I could not find these 'old barracks' to which Tennant refers. These 'barracks' were in all likelihood what is today known as Mt. Lavinia hotel, a luxurious and sought-after Sri Lankan destination for international tourists and where one night's stay in the governor's suite would relieve a guest of more than $US450. Perera tells us that the Boers 'were given first class hotel accommodation - at the Mount Lavinia Hotel -during their stay in Colombo': Perera, Sri Lankan Cricket, 84. If this is indeed correct, Tennant was perhaps a bit unfair in his description of the Boers'

accommodation as 'old barracks'.

80 Apart from the governor, the match was also attended on both days by Major General Hobson, Officer Commanding British troops in Colombo, as

well as other 'leading personalities': Ibid.

81 S.S. Perera (ed.), 'The Story of a Hundred Years of Cricket', extract from an article published at http://www.wesleycollege.org/cricket/ceperera. htom, accessed on 22 July 2005. 82 James Allanson Ebenezer ('Bada') Kelaart (or Kealaart) was born on 28 January 1867 in Colombo and also died there on 17 August 1919: http://lancashireleague.com/Archive/ Players//44/44552/44552.html, accessed on 22 July 84 According to the lunch menu card, they were served with soup, fish, 'dressed' crabs, Irish stew, roast sirloin, 'York' pudding, vegetables, mutton, ham, tongue, salads and sultana pudding! See Sennett, 'Scrap Book'. 85 Andree also had a bookstall at the entrance of the ground where he sold copies of a booklet entitled: 2005. 83 Ibid.

92 See Perera, Sri Lankan Cricket, 84.

93 Anon, Ceylon Ind ep endent, 6 July 1901.

94 B. Majumdar, 'The Vernacular in Sports History', International Journal ofthe History ofSport, 20, 1

(2003), 108.

Illustrations ofthe Boer Camp.

95 See Perera, Sri Lankan Cricket, 84.

86 Luckin, History ofSouth African Cricket, 805.

87 Scheepers was out, caught T. Kelaart bowled Joseph, for 6; Sennett was caught and bowled by Joseph for 3; Smuts (4) and Du Toit (0) were both clean bowled

96 This statement requires some qualification.The Boer prisoners of war in the camp at Uragsmanhandiya

in Elpitiya (51 kilometres north of Galle) were,