Empire Cricket Booklet

JONTYWINCH

more difficult task for him was to tackle a subsequent decision by the WPCU not to support the tour. William Milton led the Cape's objection with an argument based largely on lack of finance and a dearth of quality players. The deeper social and political meanings of the tour would also have played on Milton's mind and he was probably of the opinion that if he could not organise the visit, then he did not want his union to be part it. Milton had been unanimously elected the first president of the WPCU when it was formed on 5 September 1890, but pressure of work forced him to step down from this position in October 1893. He was appointed as head of the Prime Minister's and Native Affairs Departments in addition to continuing as Rhodes's private secre tary. He 'enjoyed the complete confidence' of the prime minister and became immersed in work that Rhodes assigned him with regard to comprehensive legislation in order to settle 'prickly issues' in 'native affairs'. 3 Milton had reason to be confident in the new administration of Western Province cricket. Apart from the president, Edward 'Ned' Steytler, who hailed from the Claremont Cricket Club, committee members largely comprised men that Milton had gathered around him over the years and were similar in outlook. It was a policy that he might well have learnt from the governor of the Cape Colony and the high commissioner for South Africa, Sir Hercules Robinson, who believed 'a similarity of taste in amusements is a guarantee for common sympathy in more important matters' . 4 The two Cape clubs that were traditionally the strongest - the Cape Town and Western Province Cricket Clubs - were also the institutions that wielded the greatest influence in administering the game in the province during the latter part of the nineteenth century. The Cape Town Cricket Club had recently absorbed the old Leeuwenhof and Gardens Clubs and elected the Hon. J. H. 'Onze Jan' Hofmeyr, the leader of the Afrikaner Bond, as its president. In serving the club until his death in 1909, he would regularly chair meetings whilst also demonstrating

interest in the game through raising a team of eleven Hofmeyrs to play against Stellenbosch on an annual basis. 5 W. V. 'Billy' Simkins, a Londoner born within the sound of 'Bow Bells', was his vice-president, with Louis Smuts the honorary secretary. At the Western Province Cricket Club, William Milton was chairman and club captain for eleven years, John Reid, an attorney, was his long-serving lieutenant, and Cecil John Rhodes was a distinguished member of the club. Committee members of the WPCU were content for a while that the touring side could not be truly representative if they 'had nothing to do with it'. 6 They did not foresee the excitement that the tour aroused throughout the southern African region. Cadwallader furnished a flow of positive articles through his columns and other newspapers played their part in generating publicity. Capetonians became concerned when Cadwallader announced that 'almost every leading cricketer in the country outside the Western Province has indicated his readiness to join the team' . 7 Their cricket administrators were also alarmed that a leading Western Province 'sportsman' - later identified as James Logan - had agreed to a £500 guarantee, that Abe Bailey was aiming to raise £1 000, and that Natal, Port Elizabeth and Kimberley had promised contributions. The required amount of £3 000 did not appear too distant. When pressed at a meeting of the WPCU, Steytler indicated that his committee was not objecting to Cape Town's players declaring their availability for selection. If anything, it came as a relief for the Union to become part of the project, although they did enter on the proviso that their involvement was dependent on the guarantees being secured. To maximise the publicity surrounding their entrance, Rhodes was drawn into chairing the first public meeting at the Commercial Exchange in early February 1894. He took the opportunity to warn organisers against favouritism and to 'take the best team whoever they were and wherever they might reside'. 8 At that stage, he probably did not anticipate later involvement in a matter related to team selection.