Tour of South Africa 1922-23                    Captain :  Frank Mann            

24th England Test tour.

(October 1922 - March 1923)

Eighth Test playing tour of South Africa by an English side

   (previous tour 1913-14)

There were no Test matches in England in 1922 and the selectors based their choices upon Test trials and county championship performances, which helped four Hampshire players to be included in the team, the greatest representation in an English tour party for a county rarely favoured by selectors.

Fatigued by the hot weather, an itinerary that seemed to maximise the travelling distances, and injuries frequently obliging that the XI was made up of the only fit men available, the side acquitted itself well on unfamiliar matting pitches. Eight of the nine first-class matches were won as well as the Test series.

Frank Mann was very popular with the South African public and a great success as captain, but he was not available to appear in Test cricket again afterwards.  ‘Jack’ Russell - inexplicably not called upon again for Test cricket in the future - was the outstanding batsman in the side. His centuries in each innings at Durban were made despite him feeling unwell, and they helped win the final Test match and the series.

The wives of several English amateurs were accompanying the 1922-23 tour but skipper Mann was irritated to find that the women complained much more about selectorial decisions than their husbands, while their presence altered many of the traditional social aspects of touring.

M.C.C. abandoned a proposed tour of West Indies on 9 November 1922.

All England tours

Previous Test tour

Australia 1920-21

Next Test tour

Australia 1924-25

Next tour of South Africa

1927-28

Members of the Test tour party (14 + 1)

Opening batsmen:  Andrew Sandham,  Jack Russell

Middle-order batsmen Philip Mead, Frank Mann, Arthur Carr

All-rounders:  Percy Fender, Frank Woolley

Wicket-keepers: George Brown, Walter Livsey (George Street was a replacement)

Slow bowlers: Vallance Jupp, Greville Stevens

Fast bowlers: Alec Kennedy, George Macauley, Arthur Gilligan

County representation:

Ex  -  Essex (1)

Ha - Hampshire (4)

Kt  -  Kent (1)

Mx - Middlesex (2)

Nth - Northamptonshire (1)

Nt - Nottinghamshire (1)

Sy - Surrey (2)

Sx - Sussex (1)

Yo - Yorkshire (1)

Average age of  team at time of first Test match

 (23 December 1922) :

  31 yrs  3 months.

Key to type:

RHB Right-handed bat

RM  Right arm medium-paced bowler

RFM  Right-arm fast medium

OB   Off-break

WK  Wicket-keeper

Test Appearances made before the tour

Woolley 32,  Mead 11,  Russell 6,  P.G.H.Fender 5,  Brown 3,  V.W.C.Jupp 2,  Sandham 1,  A.W.Carr 0,  A.E.R.Gilligan 0, Kennedy 0,  Livsey 0,  Macauley 0,  F.T.Mann 0,  G.T.S.Stevens 0.

Tour Management

Selectors

Frank Mitchell,  Pelham Warner, Henry Leveson-Gower and  Lionel Tennyson.

Selection

Unavailable  H.L.Day (Army duties),  Johnny Douglas, Jack Hearne, Jack Hobbs (sports business), Cecil Parkin (domestic reasons) and Herbert Sutcliffe.

Tour Party Announced : 18 August 1922.

Macauley (subject to fitness) and Sandham accepted their places on 26 August.

On the South Africans’ insistence there were six amateurs in the party.

Time between selection and departure from England

   63 days

 (18 August - 20 October)

Travel

Southampton    T    Cape Town

                   ‘Walmer Castle’

There was the usual festival match at Scarborough, featuring the touring side against C.I.Thornton’s XI.  Departure was on 20 October 1922.   The team, less the Hampshire contingent, travelled by rail from Waterloo Station to Southampton. They left port on the ‘Walmer Castle’

By way of Madeira, they arrived at Cape Town on 9 November.  Kennedy went ahead of the rest of the side.  The amateurs took their wives on tour at their own expense.

Time spent in South Africa

    118 days

(9 November  -  7 March)

On-tour selection panel

Frank Mann (captain),   Percy Fender (vice-captain),  Frank Woolley (senior professional).

Reinforcements

Walter Livsey broke a finger in the sixth tour match so George Street joined the team.  Arthur Carr kept wicket at Kimberley.

Greville Stevens did not play again after the Natal match but he remained with the tour party.

Fixtures/Results

† not first-class

Time spent in South Africa before First Test:  

 28 days

(9 November - 21 November)

Test appearances on tour

  (v South Africa 1922-23)

5 -   A.W.Carr,  P.G.H.Fender,  Kennedy,  F.T.Mann,  Mead,  Woolley.

4 -   Brown,  Macauley,  Russell

3 - 

2 -   A.E.R.Gilligan,  V.W.C.Jupp

1 -   Sandham,  G.T.S.Stevens,  Street.

0 -   Livsey

Match appearances

T  Test match

x other match 

p  practice match

 W won  L lost  D drawn

N no result   C  cancelled 

A abandoned

u unknown result

Carr and Mann appeared in every match

Highlights

•  Alec Kennedy (5-7 and 6-8) and Vallance Jupp (6-23 and 6-24) had startling bowling figures in the side matches, and then with 4 wickets apiece dismissed the South Africans cheaply to start the series at Johannesburg (first Test).

•  George Macauley took 5-64 in the second Test at Cape Town, and England achieved the narrowest victory by 1 wicket

•  Phil Mead scored 181 at Durban, the first Test century made at Kingsmead.

•  Frank Woolley’s century (115*) and Jack Russell’s near miss (96) were highlights of England’s batting in the 4th Test

•  Jack Russell struck a century in each innings (140 and 111) of the final Test at Durban

•  Alec Kennedy (31 wickets in the Test series) was the most dangerous bowler but Fender took 58 wickets on the tour

Tour Summary

F  Fixtures   W  Won   L  Lost   D Drawn   T  Tied  Canc  Cancelled  Aban  abandoned

Return to England

Cape Town    T    Southampton

               ‘Armadale Castle’’

The 'Armadale Castle', from Port Natal, left Table Bay, Cape Town, on 7 March

The team arrived home at Southampton on 26 March.

Time away from England

  157 days  

(20 October -26 March )

Finances

Accounts of the tour

"Mann's Men: The MCC Team in South Africa 1922-23"  by  Brian Bassano (Vine House, 2004)

Postscript