Empire Cricket Booklet

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JONTYWINCH

Mr Cadwallader; the latter by the way a young gentleman on the staff of the Flunkey. 45

The Aftermath

The form of the English side improved markedly after leaving Kimberley, albeit against much weaker teams in the Transvaal, Natal and Eastern Cape. The English captain appeared bent on smashing all opposition in an effort to improve his team's record. He and Briggs (who claimed an astonishing 294 wickets in nineteen matches) would at times bowl unchanged as they mowed down one village team after another. 48 They were tactics that might well have been a reaction to the scorn that Finlason had poured upon the side in the earlier part of the tour. Modern-day analysts would probably view the strategy as an example of a touring captain establishing a psychological ascendancy over the opposition which he would carry through to the Tests. There was plenty of pre-match hype prior to the First Test, with some writers promoting the argument that if South Africa won the match or made even a fair show, it would rank them with Australia. The representative matches were not designated as official 'Tests' until a later date, although leading cricket historian, F. S. Ashley-Cooper, wrote in The Cricketer Annual of 1930-1931 that 'the term "Tests" was, at the time, applied to them'. Certainly, the South Africans approached the matches with the same national fervour and pride that they entered subsequent internationals. They were smartly turned out in 'greenish-bronze' caps that had been specially purchased for the occasion, whilst the wife of the South African captain, Owen Dunell, had embroidered the letters 'SA' in yellow on the front of each cap. 4 9 The team, selected by a Port Elizabeth committee, was considered to be a 'national' side in that players were drawn from the Eastern and Western Cape, Natal, Kimberley and the Orange Free State. 50 'Okey' Ochse became the first Afrikaner to play for South Africa, although Nicolaas Theunissen would have been chosen had he been available. In the three matches that Theunissen had played against the tourists, he had claimed 34 wickets for 314 runs (average 9.23) and recorded five wickets in an innings in five out of six opportunities. Finlason believed that the absence

It was suspected that the touring team in collusion with Cadwallader had put pressure on local administrators to silence Finlason. 'It is a fact,' said the editor of the Diamond Fields Advertiser, 'that such was the discontent felt among the members of the English team, from the gentlemanly captain downwards, at the ungracious dissertations which found place in a Kimberley newspaper that they were seriously considering the advisability of returning to Kimberley if such a line of writing were persisted in or unless some amends were made for the same.' 4 6 The comments were ill-advised. Major Warton was in no position to duck out of a fixture and forego the financial benefits. The drama of the banquet had done much to highlight the antagonism that existed between newspapers in the local war of circulation. In apportioning blame, Finlason lambasted the Diamond Fields Advertiser for the unpleasantness witnessed at the banquet, but displayed a grudging respect when referring to Smith: 'Like all cricketers worth their salt, he hates being beaten, and is always a little more pleasant directly after winning than immediately after losing. Unlike most cricketers, however, he frankly expresses this, and I for one esteem him all the more highly for his admission.' Later, when addressing a banquet at the Theatre Royal in Pieterrnaritzburg, Smith conceded in good humour that at Kimberley 'they were about as objectionable a set of fellows after they had lost two matches as could be found. They loathed one another and detested anyone who came and spoke to them: and they cordially hated the game of cricket, and wished they had never left their mother's apron string.' Finlason was not slow to relate the remarks to the incident in Kimberley: 'Now this it seems to me explains why well meant criticisms were received in such ill part. Of course, his remarks must be taken cum grano for no member of the English team was ever objectionable.' 47