Empire Cricket Booklet

•

ORIGINS OF SEGREGATION AT THE CAPE

7/13 and 7/11 in an innings victory, and he and Hendricks bowled Kimberley to victory against both Port Elizabeth and Cape Town. 69 Following this tournament, J. K. Glover (father of George, who represented South Africa on their 1894 English tour, and Ernest, who represented Kimberley) donated a Challenge Cup valued at 50 guineas to be open to any 'Malay' cricket team in South Africa along the lines of the Currie Cup. 70 Thanks to Glover's promotion and the success of the team, 'Malay' cricket was in the Kimberley spotlight. Two further games were arranged against the white Eclectics CC immediately following the Port Elizabeth tournament, and the first drew the biggest crowd of the season in Kimberley. In the event, the 'Malays' were not up to strength as only four of the tournament side had returned from Port Elizabeth in time to play. Eclectics put out an almost-full representative strength team, including Tancred (who made 22), Finlason, George Glover, and Irvine Grimmer. Despite this, they were bowled out for 143, with Grendon again taking five wickets. The weakened 'Malay' team, however, succumbed to 60 and 50 all out, and J. Hendricks, the president of the Red Crescents, wrote to the Daily Ind ep endent apologising for the team's performance. 71 The return match was far closer. Eclectics, captained by Tancred as Grimmer was 'too sleepy to play', were restricted to 120 (Tancred 18, Finlason 14) and Grendon again took five wickets, including trapping Tancred lbw. Grendon then scored 41 out of 93 in the 'Malay' reply. These games were part of the build-up to the first Glover Cup tournament hosted by Kimberley over Easter 1891, including Port Elizabeth and Cape Town and also played at the Eclectics ground. Port Elizabeth was again outclassed. In the first game against Kimberley they made 28 and 63 in response to Kimberley's 171/3. This time Hendricks did the main damage with 6/9 and 7/33 and Grendon made 86 not out and Vogt 52 for Kimberley. The second game (Cape Town v Port Elizabeth) witnessed one of the most astonishing performances ever by a cricketer at representative level. E. Ariefdien, the Cape Town opening bowler, bowled the Port Elizabeth opener with his first ball of the match, and then went on to bowl the entire rest of the team, taking all ten wickets for 18 in nine overs. Not satisfied with this very rare

feat of ten all bowled, Ariefdien opened the batting for Cape Town in reply to Port Elizabeth's total of 50 and made 54, which along with E Abrams's 91 made up the bulk of Cape Town's 175/6 declared. Given the ball again at the start of the shell-shocked Port Elizabeth's second innings, he took a hat trick with the first three balls he bowled. The first and third were bowled but the second was caught by Stephanus. There the magic ended and Ariefdien finished the second innings with the merely human fi gu res of 4/29 in fifteen overs. Port Elizabeth complained after the tournament that they had been set up. They were apparently told before the tournament that it was to be a 'Malay' tournament, which they appear to have assumed meant between Muslim teams, and they and Cape Town entered single 'Malay' clubs rather than choosing composite sides. Kimberley, on the other hand, had selected a composite team of five 'coloured Christians', five Muslims and one African from all the Kimberley clubs. This might have been deliberate sleight of hand on Kimberley's part to ensure victory and help maintain Kimberley's profile and the commercial success of the Glovers' investment, but it is more likely that the term 'Malay' was ambi gu ous in the cricketing context. 72 In any event, there does not seem to have been any significant difference in the composition of the Kimberley team from that which took part in the Port Elizabeth tournament earlier in the year. The final between Kimberley and Cape Town immediately followed and Ariefdien once again opened the bowling against Robert Grendon and Kimberley. Ariefdien took the first three wickets quickly but Grendon hit out all round the wicket with his cutting a particular strength and eventually fell for a monumental 111 with the score at 163. Ariefdien took seven wickets but the total of 191 was daunting. In reply, Cape Town had most difficulty with the captain, Hendricks, who took 7/38, only Ariefdien (21) and R. Samsodien (32) playing him with any assurance. Cape Town was required to follow on, but this time their total was boosted by a faultless 70 not out from S. Abrams. Ariefdien finished an already highly memorable tournament for him by being puzzlingly given out 'obstructing the field',