This was England’s first tour of South Africa since Mike Smith’s
M.C.C. side thirty years before. With the World Cup in India and Pakistan to follow, it was “an
absurdly punishing schedule”, lasting five months
As England manager as well as coach
and chief selector, Ray Illingworth stamped his authority firmly on all
aspects of the tour, but his generation appeared detached from the modern
player’s attitudes. With old-school coaches Edrich and Lever in tow, the manner
in which they were trying to get the best out of England’s only fast bowler Devon
Malcolm was only the worst example of an outmoded approach. Malcolm was
subsequently fined for a newspaper column for expressing his point of view.
With two Tests ruined by rain
and two others drawn, England
arrived at Cape Town
for the final match with a chance of gaining a series victory.But a last-wicket partnership of 73 runs by
South Africa in a
low-scoring match condemned England
to defeat within three days.
The tour highlight was England’s rearguard at Johannesburg.From before lunch on the fourth day of the
second Test Mike Atherton withstood the South African bowlers, with Jack
Russell his companion for five hours, was one of the greatest defensive
actions seen in Test cricket to save a match.
Ray Illingworth (chairman),David Graveney,Fred Titmus and Mike Atherton (captain)
– met at Lord’s and picked both the Test touring team and an ‘A’ team to Pakistan.
Selection
Not considered:
Tour Party Announced : onx September 1995.
Stewart, Gough, Smith
(cheekbone) and Malcolm (knee surgery) were selected subject to fitness
tests.
Mark Ramprakash had
scored 2147 runs at an average of 93.35, including ten centuries, in the 1995
season.
Not selected:Phil DeFreitas,Alan Wells.
Withdrawn:.Richard Johnson withdrew after back trouble,
replaced by Peter Martin.
Time between selection and departure from England
days
(September - 18 October)
Travel
HeathrowQJohannesburg
Departure from Heathrow Airport, London,
was on 18 October 1995. After a 10-hour flight, the team landed in Johannesburg on
Thursday.
Time spent in South Africa
95 days
(19
October -22 January)
On-tour
selection panel
Atherton and Illingworth made the decisions.
Reinforcements
J E R
Gallian
La
RM / OB
Jason Gallianwas drafted in from the England ‘A tour of Pakistan when John Crawley pulled
a hamstring in the Third Test. He arrived in Durban
on 20 December after a 30-hour journey from Peshawar.
Thorpe had to go home for one week
because of his wife’s illness. Ilott strained a thigh in the 4th Test and was
unable to play again on the tour.
For the one-day
internationals, Phil DeFreitas, Neil Fairbrother, Dermot Reeve, Neil Smith,
Craig White came in.
Fixtures/Results
a
ϯ RandjesfonteiN
N.F.Oppenheimer’s XI
Won 112 r
b
ϯ Springs
Easterns
Won 5 w
c
Soweto
Sth African Invitation
XI
Drawn
d
East London
Border
Won inns 53
e
Kimberley
South Africa ‘A’
Lost 6 w
f
CENTURION
SOUTH AFRICAFirst Test
DRAWN
g
Bloemfontein
Free State
Drawn
h
ϯ Bloemfontein
Free State
Won 7 w
i
JOHANNESBURG
SOUTH AFRICASecond Test
DRAWN
j
Paarl
Boland
Drawn
k
ϯ Paarl
Boland
Won 74 r
l
DURBAN
SOUTH AFRICAThird Test
DRAWN
m
Pietermaritzburg
South African Students
Drawn
n
PORT ELIZABETH
SOUTH AFRICAFourth Test
DRAWN
o
CAPE TOWN
SOUTH AFRICAFifth Test
LOST 10 w
p
ϯ Cape Town
Western Province
Lost 3 w
q
§ Cape Town
South Africa (1st
ODI)
Lost 6 r
r
§ Bloemfontein
South Africa (2nd
ODI)
Won 5 w
s
§ Johannesburg
South Africa (3rd
ODI)
Lost 3 w
t
§Centurion
South Africa (4th
ODI)
Lost 7 w
u
§ Durban
South Africa (5th
ODI)
Lost 5 w
v
§ East London
South Africa (6th
ODI)
Lost 14 r
w
§ Port Elizabeth
South Africa (7th
ODI)
Lost 64 r
ϯ not first-class
§one-day international
Time spent in South Africa before First Test
2 days
(19 October - 17 November)
Test
appearances on tour
5-Atherton,Cork,Hick,Russell,Smith,Stewart,Thorpe
3-Fraser,Illingworth,Martin,
2-Gough,Ilott,Malcolm,Ramprakash,
1-Crawley,Gallian,Watkinson.
0-
Match
appearances
TTest match
oone-day international
x other match
W wonL lostD drawn
N no
resultA abandoned
u unknown
result
a
b
c
d
e
f
g
h
i
j
k
l
m
n
o
p
q
r
s
t
u
v
w
M A Atherton
x
x
x
x
T
x
x
T
x
T
x
T
T
x
o
o
o
o
o
o
D G Cork
x
x
T
x
x
T
x
T
T
T
o
o
o
o
o
o
J P Crawley
x
x
x
x
x
x
T
A R C Fraser
x
x
x
T
x
T
x
T
J E R Gallian
x
T
D Gough
x
x
x
x
T
x
T
x
x
o
o
o
o
o
o
G A Hick
x
x
x
x
T
x
T
x
x
T
x
T
T
o
o
o
o
o
o
o
R K Illingworth
x
x
x
x
T
x
x
T
x
T
o
o
o
M C Ilott
x
x
x
x
x
T
x
T
D E Malcolm
x
x
x
x
T
x
T
P J Martin
x
x
x
x
x
x
T
x
T
T
o
o
o
o
o
M Ramprakash
x
x
x
x
T
x
x
T
x
x
o
o
o
R C Russell
x
x
x
x
T
x
T
x
x
T
x
T
T
x
o
o
o
o
o
R A Smith
x
x
x
x
x
T
x
T
x
T
x
T
T
o
o
o
o
o
A J Stewart
x
x
x
x
x
T
x
x
T
x
T
x
T
T
o
o
o
o
G P Thorpe
x
x
T
x
x
T
x
x
T
x
T
T
x
o
o
o
o
o
o
M Watkinson
x
x
x
x
x
x
x
T
x
o
P A DeFreitas
x
o
o
o
o
N
Fairbrother
x
o
o
o
o
o
D A Reeve
x
o
o
N M K Smith
x
o
o
C White
x
o
o
o
o
o
o
o
RESULTS
W
W
D
W
L
D
D
W
D
D
W
D
D
D
L
L
L
W
L
L
L
L
L
England’s six previous Test tour results
Highlights
•Graeme Hick scored 141 in the first Test before
thunderstorms caused the match to be abandoned
•In the second Test match at Johannesburg
Jack Russell took the world record by holding eleven catches in a Test.
•Dominic Cork had 5-84 and 4-74 in the
second Test (Devon Malcolm took six wickets and was then dropped)
•England’s great rearguard action
to save the Johannesburg Test centred around Mike Atherton’s 10¾-hour 185*.
•Atherton shared a partnership of 119 for
the sixth wicket with Russell (29 not out facing 235 balls in 274 minutes)
•Peter Martin had tidy figures of 4 for 60
in the rain-affected third Test, and 3-39 in the fourth
John Crawley
(hamstring) and Mark Ilott (strained thigh) went home early injured.
Angus Fraser,
Jason Gallian and Devon Malcolm flew home from Cape Town after the Fifth Test on 8 January.
The ODI
team returned to England
on 22 January before flying out to Pakistan to practise for the 1996
World Cup tournament.
Time away from England
96
days
(18 October - 22 January)
Finances
Accounts
of the tour
“England Tour of South Africa 1995 - 96 Official
Tour Brochure”by Susan Doull (United Cricket Board)
Postscript
Ray Illingworth blamed the presence of wives and children for distracting
his players and contributing to bringing about defeat against South Africa in 1995-96 and the following
winter they were banned from the tour of Zimbabwe
and New Zealand.
Illingworth’s contract ended in the spring partly because he was not prepared
to spend another winter touring
Other
Test tours in 1995-96
Acknowledgements
To general reading of The Times newspaper digital archive
(Gale Group);Jamaica Gleanor
archive;National Library of Australia
Trove; Papers Past NZ.
From former British Newspaper
Library, Colindale and online:The
Age, Melbourne Argus, Bangladesh Daily Star, Barbados Advocate, Canberra
Times, Daily Telegraph, Dawn, Eastern Daily Press, The Hindu, The Independent
(Dhaka), Indian Express, The Island (Lanka), Lahore Times, New Nation, New
Zealand Auckland Herald, Sri Lanka Daily News, Stabroek News, Straits Times,
Sydney Morning Herald, The Telegraph (Calcutta), Times of India , The Tribune
Chandigarh, Trinidad Guardian, The West Australian.
Magazines/periodicals including
Australian Cricket, B & H West Indies Annual, The Cricketer
International, Cricketer Quarterly, Indian Cricket, Indian Cricket Field
Annual, Playfair Cricket Monthly, Shell Cricket Almanack of New Zealand,
Wisden Cricket Monthly, Wisden Book of Test Cricket, Wisden’s Cricketers’
Almanack.
Men In White, A History of
Australian Cricket (Harte), A History of Indian Cricket (Bose), A History of West Indies Cricket (Manley)
Biography and tour books (own collection and at the M.C.C.
Library at Lord’s Ground)ALL CONTENTS OF THE
TEST-CRICKET-TOURS.CO.UK WEBSITEARE
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