Empire Cricket Booklet

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ORIGINS OF SEGREGATION AT THE CAPE

particular clubs may have been Muslim or Christian, the organisation of cricket in Kimberley in the early 1890s was fully inclusive. 41 The representative team that won the Glover Cup 'Malay' tournament in April 1891, for example, included five coloured Christians, five Muslims and an African. When the Griqualand West Coloured Cricket Union was set up in the following year, it included African teams (Eccentrics and Duke of Wellington) as well as 'Malay' and coloured teams. 4 2 Coloured cricket during the late 1880s and early 1890s and its interaction with the white cricket community is described in detail in the next section, but the importance of cricket in defining and forming the basis for interaction between communities should not be underestimated. However, this was not always a positive process. When Joseph Moss, the Beaconsfield interpreter and official from Duke of Wellington, was elected vice president of the Griqualand West Coloured Cricket Union in 1895, this caused a walk out by three coloured teams (Wanderers, Universals and Progress), despite support in the press from Bud-Mbelle, captain and secretary of the rival Eccentrics. 43 At this distance in time, it is unclear what was behind this particular dispute - whether it was a racial concern or whether, given his position as court interpreter, he had made personal or political enemies. Certainly Bud-Mbelle appeared to think the former and defended Moss in a letter to the paper on the grounds that he was a 'Christian and a civilised African'. Another possible explanation of the resentment may have been that Moss was among a handful of Kimberley blacks who became significant property owners, and in particular, owned land in the Malay Camp. This may well have had a bearing on his negative reception by coloured cricketers. Cricket, in Kimberley as elsewhere, was the sport that the African elite showed most interest in, embodying as it did the imperial values of endeavour and fair play, and acting as a visible indication of the extent to which they had internalised the norms of colonial society. Matches between the two African teams were the highlights of the social calendar, but relations were often tense and cricketing values of 'fair play' were as likely to fall by the wayside as in

any other cricket-playing community. A fixture in 1897 between Eccentrics and Dukes, for example, was abandoned following an umpiring dispute, which was eventually settled in favour of Eccentrics. 44 Coloured Cricket in Cape Town and Kimberley, 1887-1892 Cricket among the coloured community had been long established in Cape Town by the 1880s. The exploits of Zonnebloem College in the 1860s have been mentioned earlier, and by the mid 1880s, numerous teams containing African and coloured players played at Green Point Common, the Early Morning Market, Woodstock, the Campground at Rondebosch, Mowbray, Wynberg, Simonstown and elsewhere. Regularly active teams included Africans, Blue Bells, Alberts, Good Hope, Rising Star, Primrose, Union, Victoria, Star of South Africa and Ormonde. These were popular not just with the players. Alberts lsts and 2nds played their Union equivalents over the New Year and the pitch for the first team game was completely ringed with spectators. 4 5 The operation of cricket beyond the elite white clubs like Western Province reflected the tensions between specific community and broader social interaction. Some teams were clearly based on a common Malay or African community. Ottomans, for example, which was founded in 1882 was primarily Muslim - Basil D'Oliveira was apparently turned down by the club in the late 1940s because he was a Roman Catholic. 46 Other local clubs like Docks, Simonstown and Woodstock had both coloured and white players, and mission schools such as Zonnebloem of course fielded black and white players. 47 The extent to which coloured cricket was a recognised part of the city's cultural life was demonstrated by the fact that Queen Victoria's Jubilee preparations in 1887 included in the procession, along with the usual Volunteer Artillery, Friendly Societies, bakers, painters, and coach builders, Hadjes (or Muslims who had performed the Hadj [pilgrimage] to Mecca), participants in the Malay Khalifa (or physical skills performance) and a detachment of Malay cricketers. 48 This involvement was probably the result of the tireless efforts of Abdo! Bums, described variously as