Fourth Test-playing tour of England by South Africa
(April - October 1924)
This was the first occasion on which the traditional arrangement of beginning a tour of England programme at Worcester was adopted.
Herbie Taylor provides the first instance (until Javed Burki in 1967) of a touring captain coming to England again under the captaincy of another player.
Jock Cameron was knocked unconscious by a ball from Larwood in the Lord’s Test and had to be carried off the ground; minutes later the umpires brought play to a halt for bad light.
Jacobus Duminy had been omitted from the tour squad but when Taylor, Vincent and Quinn were not fit to play, he was required. He was on a business trip in Switzerland where he saw an newspaper announcement calling for him to contact the squad and he arrived in time to play in the third Test.
Opening batsmen:Jack Siedle, Jim Christy, Bob Catterall.
Middle-order batsmen: Bruce Mitchell,‘Nummy’ Deane, Herbie Taylor, Eric Dalton, ‘Tuppy’ Owen-Smith
Wicket-keepers: Jock Cameron, Edward van der Merwe
All-rounder:Denys Morkel
Slow bowlers:Quinton McMillan, Cyril Vincent
Fast bowlers:Sandy Bell, Neville Quinn, Arthur Ochse.
A J Bell
WP
23
RFM
H B Cameron
T
23
RHBopener WK
R H Catterall
OFS
28
RHB
J A J Christy
T
24
RHB(RM)
E L Dalton
N
22
RHB
H G Deane
T
33
RHBcaptain
Q McMillan
T
24
RHBLBG
B Mitchell
T
20
RHBLB
D P B Morkel
WP
23
RHBRFM
A L Ochse
EP
29
RF
H G Owen-Smith
WP
20
RHBLB
N A Quinn
Gq
21
LFM
I J Siedle
N
26
RHB opener
H W Taylor
T
40
RHB opener vice-captain
E A van der Merwe
T
24
reserve WK
C L Vincent
T
27
SLA
Representation of teams:
EP – Eastern Province (1)
Gq - Griqualand West (1)
N – Natal (2)
OFS – Orange Free State (1)
T – Transvaal (8)
WP - Western Province (3)
Average age ofteam at time of first Test match
(15 June 1929) :
25 yrs11 months
Test Appearances made before the tour
Taylor 29,Caterall 15,Deane 10,Cameron 5,Morkel 5,Vincent 5,Duminy 2,Ochse 1,Siedle 1,Bell 0,Christy 0,Dalton 0,McMillan 0,Mitchell 0,Owen-Smith 0,Quinn 0,van der Merwe 0.
Team Officials
H O Frielinghaus
Manager
A S Frames
Secretary
W Ferguson
Baggage/scorer
"Chappie" Frielinghaus (born 1888) was a businessman who became Member of Parliament for Port Elizabeth.
Selectors
Lt-Col G A Morris (chairman),F D Conry,J H Tandy.
The selection panel recommended its choice to a special meeting of the South African Cricket Association in Cape Town.
Selection
Unavailable: Alan Melville (preparing for examinations),G F Bissett (unable to attend the trials),H L E Promnitz (unfit – he was suffering from a longstanding rib injury)
The team was chosen after trials in Durban and Cape Town in December 1928.
Tour Party Announced: 4 January 1929.
Not selected: J P Duminy (T),S L Steyn (WP).Steyn was the official tour reserve.
Bell’s selection was conditional upon the Board agreeing to a sixteenth player.Taylor was appointed vice-captain on 7 January.
Only three of those who had toured in 1924 (Catterall, Deane and Taylor) were invited again.
Time between selection and departure from South Africa
86 days
(4 January to 31 March)
Travel
On 31 March 1929 the team sailed from Cape Town on the ‘Kenilworth Castle’.They reached Funchal (Madeira) on 13 April, and Southampton on 15 April.
MCC representatives met the team at Waterloo Station, London.
Jacobus Duminy was omitted from the tour party after the trials but joined the touring party for the third Test because he was available in Europe.He was requested on 6 July and located four days later.
Cameron did not play at all after being knocked unconscious at Lord’s until the fourth Test.
Siedle was unable to play in the first two Tests, and Jim Christy was out of action with a broken finger for about six weeks.
Catterall appeared in all the tour matches until the end of June.
Fixtures/Results
ϯ Godalming
R F Earle’s XI
Drawn
ϯ Bearsted
P F Warner’s XI
Drawn
Worcester
Worcestershire
Drawn
Leicester
Leicestershire
Drawn
Kennington Oval
Surrey
Lost 125 r
Lord’s
Middlesex
Won 8 w
Oxford
Oxford University
Won 4 w
Pontypridd
Glamorgan
Won 170 r
Bristol
Gloucestershire
Lost 6 w
Sheffield
Yorkshire
Drawn
Cambridge
Cambridge University
Won inns 119 r
Lord’s
M C C
Drawn
Derby
Derbyshire
Drawn
Old Trafford
Lancashire
Lost 6 w
Stoke-on-Trent
Minor Counties
Drawn
EDGBASTON
ENGLANDFirst Test
DRAWN
Hull
Yorkshire
Drawn
Kennington Oval
Surrey
Drawn
ϯ Lakenham, Norwich
Norfolk
Won inns 44 r
LORD’S
ENGLANDSecond Test
DRAWN
Northampton
Northamptonshire
Drawn
Trent Bridge
Nottinghamshire
Drawn
Colwyn Bay
Wales
Won 10 r
HEADINGLEY
ENGLANDThird Test
LOST 5 w
Liverpool
Lancashire
Lost 10 w
North Inch, Perth
Scotland
Won inns 5 r
ϯ Sunderland
Durham
Won inns 60 r
OLD TRAFFORD
ENGLANDFourth Test
LOST inns 32 r
Taunton
Somerset
Won inns 34 r
Swansea
Glamorgan
Drawn
Edgbaston
Warwickshire
Drawn
Leyton
Essex
Won 327 r
Southampton
Hampshire
Drawn
KENNINGTON OVAL
ENGLANDFifth Test
DRAWN
Canterbury
Kent
Drawn
Hove
Sussex
Won 217 r
ϯ West Bridgford
Sir Julien Cahn’s XII
Drawn
Scarborough
C I Thornton’s XI
Drawn
Folkestone
An England XI
Lost inns 16 r
ϯ not first-class
Time spent in before First Test:61 days
(15 April - 15 June)
Test appearances on tour
5-Catterall,Deane,Mitchell,Morkel,Owen-Smith
4-Cameron,Quinn,Vincent
3-Bell,Siedle,Taylor
2-Christy, McMillan, Ochse
1-Dalton,Duminy,van der Merwe.
Highlights
•Caterall and Mitchell made a century opening stand in each innings of the first Test at Edgbaston.
•Bell took six wickets for 99 runs in the 2nd Test at Lord’s; Quinn equalled this feat at Headingley with 6 for 92, but mostly the South Africans’ fast bowling was ineffective against English batsmen like Sutcliffe.
•Morkel proved himself a genuine all-rounder with 69 wickets and more than 1400 runs scored on tour.
•At Headingley Owen-Smith made a Test century (129) at the age of 20. He shared with Bell in a record partnership of 103 runs for the tenth wicket, made in 65 minutes.
•Herbie Taylor (121) scored his first Test century outside South Africa at The Oval, where South Africa after losing three wickets for 25 runs, reached 492 for 8 declared. Taylor and Deane added 214, a record stand.
•Towards the end of the tour Dalton scored 157 and 116 not out against Kent, followed by 102 and 44 not out against Sussex.
Tour Summary
P
W
L
D
Aban
Test Matches
5
0
2
3
-
Other first-class matches
29
9
5
15
-
ϯMinor matches
5
2
0
3
-
All Matches
39
11
7
21
-
Return to South Africa
The team sailed from Southampton on 13 September on the ‘Balmoral Castle’ and they arrived at no 7 Quay in Cape Town docks on 29 September.
There was a welcome home dinner for the team at Kelvin Grove on 30 September.
Time away from South Africa184 days
(31 March to 30 September)
Finances
After all disbursementsthe tour profit was only £40.