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Test Cricket Tours - South Africa to England 1907


 

 

Tour of England 1907            Captain:  Percy Sherwell

 

 

 

 

First official South African Test tour

 

 

First Test-playing tour of England by South Africa

 (fourth tour of England)

 

 

  (April - October 1907)

 

 

 

The South Africans' fourth tour of England was their first to include a Test programme. They had previously made tours in 1894, 1901 and 1904.  English teams had already made five previous Test tours to South Africa, though the Test matches played were only recognised as such retrospectively.

On their outward journey to England the team played a match in the Canary Islands, which they won by an innings. They then had more than four weeks until their next game. They arrived in England on 1st May and their first match started on 20 May.

Percy Sherwell was not only captain and wicket-keeper but opened the batting as well. He played in all but 4 games, though Nouse, Vogler and White played even more, missing only two.

As Wisden's Almanack says, Schwarz and Vogler were the talk of the season. They, Faulkner and White, the googly quartet, took hordes of wickets, with Schwartz's 137 wickets, costing less than 12 runs each, the most distinguished performance. Schwarz was born in south-east London and had lived in England until he was 27.

A project for the touring party to follow its England trip with a visit to Philadelphia fell through, but Schwarz and Snooke joined the M C C team that went there instead.  Sherwell would have been welcome to join this venture as well, but he made himself unavailable.

 

 

Other South African tours

 

 

No Previous Test Tour

 

 

Next Test tour

Australia 1910-11

 

 

 

Next tour of England 

1912

 

 

 

 

Members of the Test tour party (15)

 

 

Opening batsmen: William Shalders, Louis Tancred  (also Sherwell).

Middle-order batsmen:Maitland Hathorn, Dave Nourse, Stanley Snooke, Harry Smith

Wicket-keepers:  Percy Sherwell, Cyril Robinson.

All-rounder:  Aubrey Faulkner

Spin bowlers: Reggie Schwartz, Bert Vogler, Gordon White

Fast bowlers: Johannes Kotze, Sibley ‘Tip’ Snooke,  Jimmy Sinclair.

 

 

G A Faulkner

T

25

RHB        LBG

 

C E Floquet  w/d

T

22

RHB opener

 

E A Halliwell  w/d

T

43

WK

 

C M H Hathorn

T

29

RHB

 

J J Kotze

WP

27

RF

 

A W Nourse

N

29

LHB          LM

 

Rev C D Robinson   added

N

33

reserve WK

 

R O Schwarz

T

32

RM / LBG

 

W A Shalders

GW

27

RHB  opener

 

P W Sherwell

T

26

RHB  opener       WK   captain

 

J H Sinclair

T

30

RHB       RFM

 

H E Smith

T

23

RHB

 

S D Snooke (Stanley)

WP

28

RHB

 

S J Snooke (Sibley)   added

WP

26

RHB        RFM

 

L J Tancred

T

30

RHB  opener

 

A E E Vogler

EP

30

LBG

 

G C White

T

25

RHB   LB

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Representation of colonies :

 

EP - Eastern Province (1)

GW - Griqualand West (1)

N – Natal (2)

T – Transvaal (8)

WP - Western Province (3)

 

  

  

Average age of  team at time of first Test match

     (1 July 1907) :

       28 yrs  6 months

 

 

 

Test Appearances made before the tour

 

Sinclair 13,  Shalders 9,  Hathorn 8,  Nourse 8,  Tancred 8,  Faulkner 5,  Schwarz 5,  Sherwell 5,  S J Snooke 5, Vogler 5,  White 5,  Kotze 2,  Robinson 0,  Smith 0,  S D Snooke 0.

 

 

 

 

 

Tour Officials

 

G Allsop

Manager

      ?

Baggage / scorer

 

 

 

 

 

 

Selectors

 

Not known

 

 

 

 

Selection

 

Unavailable:  J R M ‘Jim’ Mackay, a former New South Wales batsman, was a candidate for the tour but it was felt that he had not lived for long enough in the Union of South Africa (he had moved from Australia and played for Transvaal in 1906-07).

Tour Party Announced :   9 January 1907.

Not selected :

Withdrawn:   Claude Floquet (Transvaal opening batsman)  E A Halliwell (43 year-old Transvaal wicket-keeper, who was thought to be the first ‘keeper to put raw steak in the palms of his gloves).

S J Snooke replaced Floquet  and Robinson replaced Halliwell on19 March.

 

 

Time between selection and departure from South Africa

  89 days

(9 January to 8 April)

 

 

 

 

Travel

Cape Town    T    Southampton

              ‘Durham Castle’

 

The team sailed from Cape Town on 8 April 1907 on the 'Durham Castle'.  Making Gran Canaria at 6 am on 24 April, the team played a match at Las Palmas on Thursday 25 April, and left that night for Plymouth.  They landed at Southampton on the evening of 1 May. 

Robinson travelled over on the mailship 'Norman',  which also berthed at Southampton, on Saturday 4 May.

 

 

Time spent in England

   150 days

(1 May - 28 September)

 

 

 

 

On-tour selection panel

 

Sherwell, Sinclair and Allsop made up the tour management committee and on arrival had yet to decide the vice-captain or selection committee. Only when need arose was Tancred made vice-captain.

 

 

 

 

 

Reinforcements

 

None. Tancred was unwell (enteric fever) through most of the tour but nevertheless appeared in 21 matches. It seems that Sherwell and Tancred did not take part in the tour of Ireland so  x was captain

 

 

 

 

 

Fixtures/Results

 

ϯ Las Palmas

Canary Island XI

 

 

 

 

Leicester

Leicestershire

Won 98 r

Leyton

Essex

Won inns 99 r

Lord's

M C C

Won 3 w

Oxford

Oxford University

Drawn

Cambridge

Cambridge University

Drawn

Northampton

Northamptonshire

Won 83 r

Lord's

Middlesex

Won 278 r

Southampton

Hampshire

Drawn

Edgbaston

Warwickshire

Won 276 r

Derby

Derbyshire

Won inns 108 r

Catford Bridge

Kent

Won 2 r

LORD'S

ENGLAND  First Test

DRAWN

Hove

Sussex

Won 39 r

Kennington Oval

Surrey

Lost 85 r

Bradford

Yorkshire

Won 5 w

  Glasgow

Scotland (3-day)

Won inns 371 r

  Glasgow

A Scottish XI (1-day)

Won 3 w

Edinburgh

Scotland

Won 8 w

  Sunderland

Durham

Won inns 29 r

HEADINGLEY

ENGLAND  Second Test

LOST 53 r

Old Trafford

Lancashire

Won inns 165 r

Dublin

Ireland

Won 151 r

† Bray

Mr SH Cochrane's XII  (2-day)

Won inns 66 r

Trent Bridge

Nottinghamshire

Lost 5 w

Leyton

Essex

Won 104 r

KENNINGTON OVAL

ENGLAND  Third Test

DRAWN

Bristol

Gloucestershire

Won inns 38 r

  Cardiff

South Wales

Won inns 66 r

Bath

Somerset

Won 358 r

Lord's

MCC and Ground

Lost inns 9 r

Uttoxeter

Mr John Bamford's XI

Won inns 14 r

Scarborough

C I Thornton's England XI

Drawn

 

 

 

† not first-class

 

Time spent in England before First Test: 

61 days

(1 May - 1 July)

 

 

 

 

 

Test appearances on tour

 

3  -  Faulkner,  Hathorn,  Nourse,  Schwarz,  Shalders,  Sherwell,  Sinclair,  S J Snooke,  Vogler,  White

1 -   Kotze,  S D Snooke,  Tancred.

0 -   Robinson,  Smith.

 

 

 

 

 

Highlights

 

  ‘Bert’ Vogler took seven English wickets for 128 in the first innings of the Lord's Test.

   Aubrey Faulkner bettered that feat with 6-17 as England slumped to 76 all out at Headingley.

   On the whole tour two bowlers topped 100 wickets : Vogler with 119 and Schwarz  with 137.

 

 

 

 

 

Tour Summary

 

 

 P

 W

L

D

Aban

Test Matches

  3

  0

1

2

-

Other first-class matches

24

17

3

4

-

ϯ Minor matches

  5

  5

0

0

-

All Matches

32

22

4

6

-

 

 

 

 

 

 

Return to South Africa

 

Southampton    T Cape Town

               ‘Walmer Castle’

 

The M.C.C. tour party to the United States left Euston for Liverpool on 6 September without the South African members of its side, Schwarz and Snooke.  They were still playing in the final tour match at Scarborough and sailed to America later on the 'Oceanic', departing on Wednesday 11 September.

Hathorn, Kotze, Robinson and Vogler left Southampton on the 'Armadale Castle' on Saturday 14 September (arriving in South Africa on 2 October).

The remainder of the team left Southampton on the 'Walmer Castle' on 28 September and sailed via Madeira.  The group that arrived with manager Allsop at Cape Town on 15 October was: Faulkner, Sherwell, Nourse, White, S D Snooke, Tancred, Smith and Shalders.

Faulkner had become engaged to Miss M E Brooks on the voyage.

 

 

Time away from South Africa    190 days  

(8 April to 15 October)

 

 

 

 

Finances

 

Affiliated members of the South African Cricket Union guaranteed to meet the costs of the tour, which were estimated at £3000.

Receipts from the gate turned out higher than expected at £6376 leaving an eventual profit on the tour of £1400.

 

 

 

 

 

Published accounts of the tour

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Postscript

 

 

 

 




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