Tour of South Africa 1895-96           Captain : Lord Hawke

England’s 13th Test tour.

 (November 1895 - March 1896)

Third Test-playing tour of South Africa by an English side

 (previous tour W W Read’s 1891-92)

The third English cricket team to South Africa was arranged and financed by James Logan, a Scottish emigrant who had become a millionaire through his South African property ventures.

The touring party made its tour at a very tense moment in southern African history. On New Year's Eve 1895, as the touring party played its first match, came news that Dr L.S.Jameson had invaded the Transvaal Republic with a force of 480 men to assist the 'uitlanders' (foreign workers) in their struggle against Kruger and the Boers. Realising that he was threatening to take over the Rand and its wealth by force, the Boer Government reacted swiftly and, when Jameson was taken prisoner on 3 January, his cause was immediately lost. 

Apart from distracting the public from cricket, the Jameson Raid seems to have had very little impact upon the tour.  Lord Hawke's side was delayed for ten days in Cape Town but then travelled to Johannesburg and Pretoria in the heart of Kruger's regime and played matches without disruption.

Although Lord Hawke's team won the three 'Test matches' comfortably, it lost to Natal and Western Province, small signs of the improvement taking place in South African cricket.

H.T.Hewett, who had stepped in for Frank Milligan shortly before the tour, returned to England after six matches on important private business (Leveson-Gower later disclosed that Hewett returned because he had found the travelling uncomfortable). Lord Hawke unsuccessfully approached R.M.Poore to take Hewett's place in the tour party, and Poore played for South Africa in the three representative matches.

The Chairman of the Union Steamship Company, Mr Donald Currie, awarded a silver cup worth 50 guineas for the best all-round play of any colonial side against the Englishmen. Subsequently the colonies competed for this trophy which became known as the Currie Cup.

All England tours

Previous Test tour

Australia 1894-95(Stoddart’s)

Next Test tour

Australia 1897-98(Stoddart’s)

Next tour of  South Africa

 1898-99(Lord Hawke’s team)

Members of the Test tour party (14)

Opening batsmen:   Tom Hayward, Ledger Hill,  Tim O’Brien

Middle-order batsmen Lord Hawke,  Hewett,  Miller, Wright

Wicket-keeper:Harry Butt

All-rounders:  Charles Fry

Slow bowlers:Edwin Tyler

Fast bowlers: Hugh Bromley-Davenport, C Heseltine,  George Lohmann, Sammy Woods,

County representation:

Ha - Hampshire (2)

Mx  -  Middlesex (2)

Nt - Nottinghamshire (1)

Sm - Somerset (3)

Sy  -  Surrey (2)

Sx - Sussex (2)

Wilt - Wiltshire (1)

Yo  -  Yorkshire (1)

*Bromley-Davenport appeared only for the Gentlemen in 1896

Average age of  team at time of first Test match

(13 February 1896) :

   29 yrs 1 months

Test Appearances made before the tour

Lohmann 14,  Woods 3 for Australia,  O'Brien 2,  Bromley-Davenport 0,  Butt,  Fry 0,  Hawke 0,  Hayward 0,  Heseltine 0,  Hewett 0,  Hill 0,  Miller 0,  Tyler 0,  Wright 0.

Tour Officials

Selectors

Lord Hawke?  made all the arrangements.

Selection

Unavailable /Not considered: 

Tour Party Announced  :  unknown

Time between selection and departure from England

   days

 ( ?  - 30 November)

Travel

Southampton    T    Cape Town

                      ‘Guelph’

Most of the team assembled at Waterloo Station, London, and took a train to Southampton where they embarked at 5.30 pm on Saturday 30 November, on the Union steamer 'Guelph', bound for Delagoa Bay in Mozambique. They sailed via Tenerife (6 December). George Lohmann met the 'Guelph' on arrival at Cape Town on 22 December 1895.

Lord Hawke, Sir Timothy O'Brien and Mr Hewett left Southampton a week later on the 'Moor', which became involved in an accident and was delayed.  Sailing via Madeira, it reached Cape Town on 27 December, too late for them to appear in the first match.

Time spent in South Africa

    94 days

(22 December -  25 March

Reinforcements

Mr Hewett returned to England after six games without replacement. Lord Hawke approached R.M.Poore who had already scored a century against the tourists to join them, but the South African Cricket Association protested. Lieutenant Poore was on a year's service in Natal, but was regarded as qualified to represent South Africa. 

H.Kirk, the baggageman, appeared in one minor match. 

Fixtures/Results

† not first-class

Time spent in South Africa before First Test:

  53 days

(22 December - 13 February)

Test appearances on tour

(v South Africa 1895-96)

3  -  Bromley-Davenport, Butt, Hawke, Hayward, Hill, Lohmann, O'Brien, Woods, Wright.

2  -  Fry, Heseltine.

1  -  Miller, Tyler.

0  -  Hewett.-  

Match appearances

T  Test match

x other match 

∙  played for opposition

W won  L lost  D drawn  

N no result   A abandoned  

u unknown result

England’s six previous Test tour results:

in Australia 1894-95 (5 Tests)

 - won 3-2

in South Africa 1891-92 (1 Test)

 - won 1-0

in Australia 1891-92 (3 Tests)

 - lost 1-2

in South Africa 1888-89 (4 Tests)

 - won 2-0

in Australia 1887-88 (1 Test)

 - won 1-0

in Australia 1886-87 (2 Tests)

 - won 2-0

Highlights

•  George Lohmann took 157 wickets on the tour.

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Tour Summary

Return to England

Cape Town  T     Plymouth

                ‘Pretoria’

With the exceptions of Mr Hill and Mr Heseltine, other members of the team left for England on the Union liner 'Pretoria' from Cape Town on 25 March ; they were late for departure and had to be ferried to the 'Pretoria' by tugboat. 

Sailing via Madeira (8 April) they arrived in Plymouth on the evening of Sunday 12 April.

Time away from England

  134 days  

(30 November  - 12  April)

Finances

Accounts of the tour

Postscript