Empire Cricket Booklet

•

MORE THAN A GAME

calculated risk, as Bailey was probably aware that Roos's South African rugby team had reportedly objected to the presence of James 'Darkie' Peters - the first black player to represent England -in a tour match against Devon. The tourists were apparently 'seething at the presence of such a "savage" on the pitch' and initially 'refused to play, but the South African High Commissioner and local dignitaries, who feared a riot if the game was cancelled, persuaded South Africa's captain, Paul Roos, and his team to fulfil the fixture, albeit under protest'. Peters was then left out of the England side to play South Africa in the Test at Crystal Palace. 54 It is Birley's view that South African cricket had been 'pushed prematurely by wealthy local politicians' and their limitations were exposed in the years prior to the outbreak of the First World War. 55 He pays no tribute to the skills of the googly bowlers or the great batsmanship of Aubrey Faulkner, yet he is correct in his assessment of the unsuccessful triangular tournament of 1912 in England, followed by the disastrous Test series in South Africa against England in 1913/14. The latter series was dominated by Sydney Barnes who was almost unplayable in securing 49 wickets in four Tests. He refused to play in the Fifth when the promised financial assistance for his wife did not materialise, but England went on to win the rubber 4-0. Herby Taylor (508 runs - 50.80) revealed enormous talent in the Tests and inspired Natal to a grand victory over the tourists, scoring 91 out of 153 and 100 out of 216 for 6 in his side's four-wicket victory. On 4 August 1914, the British ultimatum to Germany expired and the Union of South Africa, like the rest of the British empire, was drawn into the First World War. With many cricketers and administrators away on active service, the game was seriously disrupted in South Africa. A proposed tour to Australia in 1914/15 was called off, while the Currie Cup did not take place again until 1920/21. Five South African Test cricketers died during the war. Arthur E. Ochse, who represented South Africa in 1888/89 at the age of nineteen years and one day, was killed in action in 1918. Two of the famous googly quartet, Reggie Schwarz and Gordon White, died overseas late in 1918 - Schwarz of influenza while serving in France

for unification was such that 'the constitution of South Africa was less than a year in the making'. 49 Pakenham stated that the new constitution was for a union that 'would clearly be dominated by the Boers of the gold-rich Transvaal. Permeating the new constitution, like the taint in a suit of second-hand clothes, was the colour bar of the old republics'. 50 It was not simply the old republics which provided the template for the system: no African or coloured had ever served in the Cape parliament thanks to Rhodes and Milton, and no African would be able to serve in either house of the Union parliament. White South African parties generally supported the constitution because it recognised the need to unite the Afrikaans- and English-speaking groups. It was, at the same time, opposed in many respects by Africans, coloureds and Indians. The disagreements that prevailed resulted in the different groups making their way to England to present conflicting points of view. The official 28-member white delegation was followed and opposed by William Schreiner, a former prime minister of the Cape Colony and later president of the South African Rugby Football Union, who led a deputation that included John Tengo Jabavu, Dr Abdullah Abdurahman, Walter Rubusana, and several other black leaders. Davenport said that it was the aim of the Schreiner delegation 'to try and prevail on the British parliament to reject a political colour bar'. 51 They made contact with Mohandas Gandhi, who was in London for the same purpose, but their combined effort made little headway. 'Schreiner,' said Pakenham, 'tried to warn the Liberal imperialists that the Union would be a betrayal. He found few listeners ... Milner had not exaggerated when he gave Asquith some blunt advice ten years before: "You have only to sacrifice the nigger and the game is easy."' 52 Against this backdrop, Bailey found sufficient support to establish the Imperial Cricket Conference. Although dismissed by Birley as 'really M.C.C.'s Colonial Branch', the organisation represented another significant effort by Bailey to raise the profile of South Africa in the international game. 53 Even more remarkable was his continued support for the apparently 'coloured' all-rounder, 'Buck' Llewellyn, as it conflicted with South African cricket's views on professionalism and colour. It was no doubt a