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.
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 Floquetw/d
T
22
RHB
opener
E
A Halliwellw/d
T
43
WK
C M H
Hathorn
T
29
RHB
J J
Kotze
WP
27
RF
A W Nourse
N
29
LHBLM
Rev C
D Robinsonadded
N
33
reserve
WK
R O
Schwarz
T
32
RM /
LBG
W A
Shalders
GW
27
RHBopener
P W Sherwell
T
26
RHBopenerWKcaptain
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
RHBRFM
L J
Tancred
T
30
RHBopener
A E E Vogler
EP
30
LBG
G C White
T
25
RHBLB
Representation of colonies :
EP -
Eastern Province (1)
GW -
Griqualand West (1)
N – Natal (2)
T – Transvaal (8)
WP -
Western Province (3)
Average
age ofteam at time of first Test match
(1 July 1907) :
28
yrs6 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
TownTSouthampton
‘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
•‘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
SouthamptonTCape
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
Africa190 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.