Empire Cricket Booklet

MORE THAN A GAME

and Sondezi, who all died between January and July 1917, and who as soldiers in theSouth African Native Labour Corps were in life contained in a segregated area, secured on its perimeter by barbed wire, from which they were allowed out only to labour and in some cases to die in a foreign field which for them was not ever a corner of England. 57 This book is concerned withanimportantera inSouth African cricket and the way it interacts with political and economic history. The reliance on a wide variety of sources has been both enforced and by choice. A fire at the Wanderers Club in 1898 is said to have destroyed important cricket records up to that time. Some minute books from this period are available, although authors have had to contend with the

for meetings, matches and tours. Various works used have been referenced where appropriate, whilst the unfolding chapters reflect much new material in the continued attempt to recover South Africa's early cricket history. 58 As our project progressed the writers became increasingly aware that this was the beginning of a journey. Much further research awaits and we hope that the initial work done here may help to inspire further research into cricket in the African, Indian, Afrikaner, coloured and Malay communities, cricket and the mining industry, and cricket in the evolution of rural community - to mention three areas where further work is desperately needed. Understanding the present cannot happen without an understanding

The grave of R.O. Schwarz at Etapies

of the past, and this book hopes to be a single nail in the platform on which South Africa's social transformation can be built.

general fragmentary nature of club, provincial and national records. Fortunately, newspaper reports covering cricket have proved an invaluable source