Tour of England 1935                                Captain: Herbert Wade

Seventh South African Test tour

Fourth Test-playing tour of England by South Africa

     (April - October 1924)

Herbie Taylor, who wished to make way for younger players made himself unavailable for the tour, the first he had missed since his debut in 1912.

On their fifth Test-playing trip to England in 28 years the South Africans at last won a Test match, and then the series. The Lord’s Test was played on a grass pitch made bare by an invasion of crane flies and South Africa skittled England out for innings of 198 and 151. This was the only match that produced a result, giving South Africa a first series win.

Among the batsman Dalton, Viljoen and Nourse all scored plenty of runs and newcomer Eric Rowan topped the tour aggregates with almost 2000 first-class runs. But the leading batsman was Bruce Mitchell, whose 164 not out at Lord’s and 128 at The Oval, came at critical moments to hold on to the Test series.

With so many players being unfit at one stage (Balaskas, Bell, Crisp, Siedle and Wade) it seemed likely that Owen-Smith would be called up to join the tour, so breaking his Middlesex qualification. Eventually, the tourists decided they did not need a reinforcement, although the load put a strain on the principal players. 

The tour was also a financial success returning a profit of £12 000, easily the best so far achieved on a South African tour in England.  The team sailed home on the ‘Windsor Castle’, calling at Madeira on the way, and it is believed that there the vice-captain, Jock Cameron, contracted the enteric fever that caused his death.

Other South African tours

Previous Tour

New Zealand 1931-32

Next tour

England 1947

Members of the Test tour party (15)

Opening batsmen:Bruce Mitchell, Herby Wade, Jack Siedle.

Middle-order batsmen  Eric Rowan, Eric Dalton, Dudley Nourse, Ken Viljoen

Wicket-keeper  Jock Cameron, Robert Williams

Slow bowlers  Cyril Vincent, Denis Tomlinson, Xenophon Balaskas

Fast bowlers  Bob Crisp, Arthur Langton, Sandy Bell.

Provincial representation

N – Natal (5)

OFS – Orange Free State (1)

R – Rhodesia (2)

T – Transvaal (5)

WP - Western Province (2)

Average age of  team at time of first Test match

      (15 June 1935) :

       27 yrs  0 months

Test Appearances made before the tour

Cameron 21,  Vincent 21,  Mitchell 17,  Bell 13,  Siedle 9,  Viljoen 8,  Dalton 6,  Balaskas 4,  Wade 0,  Crisp 0,  Langton 0,  Nourse 0,  Rowan 0,  Tomlinson 0,  Williams 0.

Tour Officials

Selectors

J H Tandy,  J B Perring  and  T E Holmes chose the side, aided by H F Wade who was appointed captain, as announced on 1 January.

Selection

Unavailable:  H W Taylor (who wished to make way for younger players);  C L Vincent (at first); 

Tour Party announced:  3 January 1935.

Not selected:  E P ‘Buster’ Nupen (the selectors supposed him to be a matting bowler only); batsman A W ‘Dooley’ Briscoe;  fast bowler Norman Gordon.

Time between selection and departure from South Africa

  85 days

(3 January to 29 March)

Travel

Cape Town  T  Southampton

           ‘Armadale Castle’

Cameron, Vincent, Mitchell, Rowan and Langton left from Johannesburg railway station on the evening of 27 March.  General Smuts had been the honoured guest at a farewell dinner at City Hall.

The team sailed from Cape Town on the ‘Armadale Castle’ on 29 March, and arrived at Southampton on 15 April.

Time spent in England

   158 days

(15 April - 20 September)

On-tour selection panel

Snooke (non-voting chairman),  Herbie Wade (captain),  Jock Cameron (vice-captain) and Bruce Mitchell.

Reinforcements

None, despite so many players being unfit at one stage (Balaskas, Bell, Crisp, Siedle and Wade) that it seemed likely that H G Owen-Smith would be called up to join the tour, so breaking his Middlesex qualification.

Eventually, the tourists decided they did not need a reinforcement, although a South African journalist, Louis Duffus, was called upon to field as substitute against Glamorgan.

While Nourse played in 39 matches, Balaskas and Williams each appeared in only 14.

Fixtures/Results

† not first-class

Time spent in England before First Test: 

61 days

(15 April - 15 June)

Test appearances on tour

5  -  Cameron,  Crisp,  Langton,  Mitchell,  Nourse,  Rowan,  Wade.

4  -  Dalton,  Siedle,  Viljoen,  Vincent.

3  -  Bell

1  -  Balaskas,  Tomlinson.

0  -  Williams.

Highlights

•   Balaskas bowled South Africa to their first victory in England  with figures of 5-49 and 4-54.

•   Crisp took  107 wickets on tour, including 5-99 in the Old Trafford Test match

Tour Summary

Return to South Africa

Southampton    T     Cape Town

                ‘Windsor Castle’

After the matches in England the tourists sailed from Harwich for Holland on 13 September (except Wade who was confined to bed with an ear infection).  There was a two-day match at The Hague, played on a matting wicket laid over rolled gravel.  Then the team returned to London

The touring party sailed home from Southampton on 20 September on the ‘Windsor Castle’, arriving at Cape Town on 7 October.

Williams remained in England after the tour to become a student. Vincent announced that he was retiring from the game.

The ship called at Madeira on the way home, and it is believed that there Jock Cameron contracted the enteric fever that caused his death.

Time away from South Africa    192 days  

(29 March to 7 October)

Finances

The profit of £12 000 was easily the best achieved by a South African side in England thus far.

Published accounts of the tour

“Maiden Victory”  (2013)  by Brian Bassano and Rick Smith  (pub  J W McKenzie, London).

Postscript