The thirteenth South Africans to England were the tenth side to play a Test series, and the last to do so for nearly thirty years.
Only one player Athol McKinnon remained from the 1960 tour party but six of the side - Barlow, Bland, Botten, Lindsay, Peter Pollock and van der Merwe - had been to England in 1961 with Roy McLean's Fezelas.
The tour was brought forward from 1966 to accommodate the new twin tour arrangements, which saw New Zealand touring in the first half of the English summer and South Africa in the second half, each team playing three Tests against England. The purpose was to enable the popular West Indians to return to England more frequently. However, this strong South African side, had it been awarded a 4th and 5th Test, would have attracted large crowds as well.As it was, the tour made large profits.The South African Board was indignant that it had been relegated to the second tier of Test nations at a time when the team's reputation for stroke-filled batting, fast bowling and thrilling fielding (Colin Bland would give displays of throwing down the stumps from cover) was so high. The Test series ended with South Africa as winners by one match to nil, so reversing the result against England in South Africa the previous season of 1964-65.The team included four players of world class who were among South Africa's greatest cricketers: Barlow, Bland and the Pollock brothers.
A H Coy (chairman), D V Dyer, A Melville,L Tuckett..
Selection
Unavailable: T L Goddard (retired - but he played again in later years);
On Goddard's retirement, his vice-captain Peter van der Merwe was made captain.
Tour Party Announced :17 February 1965.
Not selected :
Withdrawal :A J Pithey (Rhodesia) withdrew for business reasons and was replaced by Lance.
Time between selection and departure from South Africa
119 days
(17 February - 16 June)
Travel
The team flew out of Jan Smuts Airport, Johannesburg, for Heathrow on 16 June 1965.
The team practiced at Roehampton but had no warm-up matches, and pitched straight into their first-class programme.
Time spent in
86 days
(16 June - 10 September)
On-tour selection panel
Peter van der Merwe,Eddie Barlow,Graeme Pollock.
Reinforcements
None.
Fixtures/Results
Chesterfield
Derbyshire
Lost 7 w
Sheffield
Yorkshire
Drawn
Colchester
Essex
Drawn
Kennington Oval
Surrey
Drawn
Bristol
Gloucestershire
Drawn
Jesmond
Minor Counties
Won 203 r
Leicester
Leicestershire
Drawn
LORD'S
ENGLANDFirst Test
DRAWN
Canterbury
Kent
Won inns 147 r
Swansea
Glamorgan
Drawn
TRENT BRIDGE
ENGLANDSecond Test
WON 94 r
Lord's
Middlesex
Won 5 w
Southampton
Hampshire
Drawn
Hove
Sussex
Drawn
Edgbaston
Warwickshire
Drawn
KENNINGTON OVAL
ENGLANDThird Test
DRAWN
Old Trafford
Lancashire
Won 166 r
Scarborough
TN Pearce's XI
Lost 8 w
†Scarborough
TN Pearce's XI (one-day) ¬
Lost 13 r
†Bradford
Yorkshire (one-day)
Abandoned
¬extra match added when the match at Scarborough ended early
† not first-class
Time spent in England before First Test:
36 days
(16 June - 22 July)
Test appearances on tour
3-Barlow, Bacher, Bland, Botten, Dumbrill, Lance, Lindsay, P M Pollock, R G Pollock, van der Merwe
2-McKinnon
1 -Bromfield
0 -Crookes, Gamsy, Macauley
Highlights
•Graeme Pollock's 125 at Trent Bridge was scored with awesome power, his tall, upright style drawing comparisons with Frank Woolley.
• Peter Pollock took 10 wickets (5-53 and 5-34) at Trent Bridge, and 20 wickets in the three-match series
• Colin Bland’s was asked to give displays of cover fielding, after demonstrating his abilities in matches such as running out Ken Barrington and Jim Parks at Lord's.
Tour Summary
P
W
L
D
Aban
Test Matches
3
1
0
2
-
Other first-class matches
15
4
2
9
-
Minor matches ¬
2
0
1
0
1
All Matches
20
5
3
11
-
¬An extra limited-overs match was played against TN Pearce's XI when the first-class fixture ended early. The match against Gillette Cup champions Yorkshire was abandoned as a draw
Return to South Africa
The team flew home from Heathrow to Johannesburg on 10 September 1965.