Empire Cricket Booklet

CHAPTER FOUR

'I Could a Tale Unfold'

The Tragic Story of 'Old Caddy' and 'Krom' Hendricks

JONTY WINCH

Cadwallader Plans a Tour

Introduction

When Major Warton's side toured South Africa in 1888/89, a number of media references were made to a reciprocal visit in the near future, with The Field promising'an African team will be sure of a welcome here'. They were not the first suggestions that a South African team should tour England. In 1883, a club cricketer from the Cape who was in England on leave, R. W. Stevens, told members of the Witham Club at their annual dinner that the Cape Colony was contemplating sending a team to England. It prompted Cricket: A Weekly Record ofthe Game to note optimistically: 'It may not be long after all before Kaffreland is able to send us as fine a specimen of native cricket as that excellent all-round player, the Australian Aboriginal, Mullagh, who made such a capital show here in 1868.' 2 When the SACA met at the Central Hotel, Kimber ley, on 19 November 1892, Harry Cadwallader placed the 'overseas tour' on the agenda. He had prepared meticulously and was supported by Ernest 'Barberton' Halliwell in presenting a strong argument for undertaking such a venture. Irvine Grimmer, who chaired the meeting, expressed his interest and it was agreed that the secretary should be empowered to liaise officially with the authorities in England in order to arrange a tour in 1894. It was a link that Cadwallader was already exploring. A

Harry Cadwallader, the first secretary of the South African Cricket Association (SACA), claimed he 'could a tale unfold' about the machinations of cricket authorities at the Cape who prevented 'Krom' Hendricks, a 'coloured' fast bowler, from being chosen for the overseas tour in 1894. 1 As Cadwallader died suddenly three years later, he never provided details of the clique that governed the Western Province Cricket Union (WPCU) and had strong links with the Cape government. Incidents of a racial nature which marred the tour and subsequent matches were also overlooked by sports historians for almost one hundred years. This chapter will endeavour to reconstruct the events of that period and locate them within wider social and political developments. It will focus on the manner in which the cricket authorities systematically orchestrated the exclusion of Hendricks from cricket at a representative level. Segregation in sport was not introduced without stern opposition and an effort will be made to analyse the deeds of men on both sides of the bitter conflict. The chapter will examine the roles played by leading administrators who are generally revered in the traditional white cricket histories, whilst also referring to personalities who have previously received little recognition for their contributions to South African cricket.