M.C.C was dominant at the start of the tour up to the first two
Test matches then South
Africa won the last two matches of the
series, their first victories at home since 1930, so that the series was
drawn with two wins apiece, the side winning the toss being victorious in
each case.
Scoring was low because in general the pitches were not up to
standard for Test cricket. At Port
Elizabeth, for example, the two sides scored only
538 between them in four completed innings. The South Africans had two
extremely accurate, even negative, bowlers in Tayfield and Goodard to keep
the runs down. The pace of scoring was desperately slow as well, a number of
tedious batting performances being recorded, notably Peter Richardson's
slowest-ever Test century at Johannesburg.
Insole and Wardle, who had both initially declared that they were
not available to take part in the tour, turned out to be the most successful
players.
M.C.C. announced the
appointment of Brown as manager on 15 June.
Selectors
Gubby Allen (chairman),Les Ames, Cyril Washbrook, Wilfred Wooller, Peter May,Doug Insole,Tom Dollery and
Freddie Brown
They met in Leeds to draw up a
preliminary list asking about availability; and again at the Bath Club in
mid-August to select the first thirteen players.
Selection
Peter May was appointed captain on 24 July.
Unavailable :David Sheppard (curacy in Islington) and Cyril Washbrook. Wardle and
Insole had both stated they were not available
The selectors first chose thirteen players in mid-August; then added
the names of Compton, Parks and Taylor on 23 August, the opening day of the
final Test against the 1956 Australians.
Tour party announced : 14 and 23 August 1956.
Apart from one representative from
each of Lancashire and Yorkshire and two
from the midlands, the selection was dominated by the southern counties.
Reserve :Arthur Milton (in case Compton was unfit).
Not selected :Tom Graveney,Tommy Greenhough,Alan Moss,Fred Trueman,Willie Watson.
Time
between selection and departure from England
42 days
(23 August - 4 October)
Travel
SouthamptonTCape
Town
‘Edinburgh Castle’
The team departed from Southampton on
Thursday 4 October 1956 on the "Edinburgh Castle".
They travelled together by train from Waterloo Station, London, except for Trevor Bailey who missed
the train and joined the team later.
Sailing via Las Palmas,
where there was a 12-hour stop, the "Edinburgh Castle"
reached Cape Town
on Friday 18 October.
The team flew from Johannesburg
to Bulawayo for the Rhodesia match.
Time
spent in South Africa
179 days
(18
October -15 April)
On-tour
selection panel
Peter
May (captain),Doug Insole (vice-captain),Trevor
Bailey,Denis Compton (senior professional),Freddie Brown (manager)
Reinforcements
None.Jim Parks, who suffered
double vision after being hit on the head by a ball at catching practice,
returned home.
When he was about to leave Heathrow Airport on 19 December to rejoin the
tour, Parks collapsed again, now suffering from pneumonia.
Arthur Milton, the reserve batsman, had
broken a thumb so May contacted David Sheppard privately, asking whether he
would join the team for the last three Test matches. Willie Watson was also
mentioned as a possible replacement but in the end no-one reinforced the tour
party.
The manager, F R Brown, played in the
last match at Cape Town
when Tyson was unfit (back injury). This also allowed four other players to
go home early.
.
Fixtures/Results
a
ϯPaarl
Boland & SW Districts
Won inns 127
b
Cape Town
Western Province
Won inns 76
c
Port Elizabeth
Eastern
Province
Won inns 201
d
Bloemfontein
Orange
Free State
Won inns 168
e
Bulawayo
Rhodesia
Won inns 86
f
Salisbury
Rhodesia
Won inns 292
g
Johannesburg
Transvaal
Won 3 w
h
Pretoria
A South African XI
Lost 38 r
i
Durban
Natal
Drawn
j
Benoni
North-eastern Transvaal
Drawn
k
JOHANNESBURG
SOUTH AFRICAFirst Test
WON
131 r
l
CAPE
TOWN
SOUTH AFRICASecond Test
WON
312 r
m
ϯ Queenstown
Country Districts
Won inns 110
n
East London
Border
Won inns 218
o
Pietermaritzburg
Natal
Drawn
p
DURBAN
SOUTH AFRICAThird Test
DRAWN
q
Johannesburg
Transvaal
Drawn
r
Kimberley
Griqualand West
Won inns 47
s
JOHANNESBURG
SOUTH AFRICAFourth Test
LOST 17
r
t
Cape Town
Western Province
Drawn
u
PORT
ELIZABETH
SOUTH AFRICAFifth Test
LOST
58 r
v
Cape Town
Combined Universities
Won inns 28
† not first-class
§one-day
internationals
Time spent in South Africa before
First Test:
67 days
(18 October - 24 December)
Test
appearances on tour
(v South
Africa 1956-57)
5 -Bailey, Compton, Cowdrey, Evans, Insole, Laker, May, Richardson.
4 -Loader, Statham,
Wardle.
3 -
2 -Tyson.
1 -Lock.
0 -Oakman, Parks, Taylor.
Match
appearances
TTest match
oone-day international
x other match
W wonL lostD drawn
Ttied
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
T E Bailey
x
x
x
x
x
x
x
x
T
T
x
x
T
T
x
T
D C S Compton
x
x
x
x
x
x
x
T
T
x
x
T
x
T
T
x
M C Cowdrey
x
x
x
x
x
x
x
x
x
T
T
x
x
T
x
T
x
T
x
T G Evans
x
x
x
x
x
T
T
x
T
x
T
T
x
D J Insole
x
x
x
x
x
x
x
x
x
T
T
x
x
x
T
x
x
T
x
T
J C Laker
x
x
x
x
x
x
T
T
x
x
T
x
T
T
x
P J Loader.
x
x
x
x
x
x
x
x
T
x
x
T
x
x
T
T
x
G A R Lock
x
x
x
x
x
x
x
x
x
x
x
x
x
T
x
P B H May
x
x
x
x
x
x
x
T
T
x
x
T
x
x
T
x
T
x
A S M Oakman
x
x
x
x
x
x
x
x
x
x
x
x
x
x
x
J M Parks
x
P E Richardson
x
x
x
x
x
x
x
x
x
T
T
x
T
x
x
T
x
T
x
J B Statham
x
x
x
x
x
T
T
x
T
x
T
x
B Taylor
x
x
x
x
x
x
x
x
x
x
x
x
x
F H Tyson
x
x
x
x
x
x
x
T
x
x
x
x
x
x
T
J H Wardle
x
x
x
x
x
x
x
T
T
x
x
x
T
x
T
x
F R Brown
x
x
R E S U L T S
W
W
W
W
W
W
W
L
D
D
W
W
W
W
D
D
D
W
L
D
L
W
England’s six previous Test tour results
Highlights
• Peter May began the tour with four centuries
in the provincial games but averaged only 15 in the Test matches
• Peter Richardson registered the slowest
century in the history of Test cricket at Johannesburg (first Test). He took more
than 8 hours (488 minutes) to bring up his hundred and remained at the wicket
for 525 minutes for his 117.
• Trevor Bailey took 5 for 20 at Johannesburg as England
bowled South Africa
out for only 72 runs.
• Johnny Wardle with 5 for 53 and 7 for 36
baffled the South African batsmen at Cape
Town to win another Test.
•Richardson (68) and Bailey (80) began the England innings at Durban with an opening partnership of 115.
•
Tayfield bowled 137 consecutive balls without conceding a run in 16
successive 8-ball maiden overs spanning two innings of the third Test at Durban - a record for
first-class cricket. Tayfield captured 37 wickets in the series (average 17)
to overtake the longstanding South African record of Arthur Vogler (36 in
1909-10).
•Doug Insole (110 not out) scored his only
century in Test cricket in the second innings
•Frank Tyson took 6 for 40 when recalled to
the Test side at Port Elizabeth
Two days after the final Test ended, those not playing against
the Universities flew home early. Four players (Insole, Bailey, Statham,
Wardle) went to Johannesburg on 7 March for
the flight home to London
Airport.
Oakman had already flown home early because of his back injury. Compton remained in South
Africa to stay with his wife’s family in Natal.
On 15 March May and seven other players sailed from Cape Town on
the 'Stirling Castle', arriving in Southampton a fortnight later on 29
March.
Time
away from England
176 days
(4
October- 29 March)
Finances
The M.C.C. received as their 45% share of the outer gate receipts the sum of
£59 539(from South African Cricket Annual 1957).
Accounts
of the tour
"The M.C.C. tour of
South Africa 1957-57"byCharles Fortune (George Harrap
& Co, 1957)
“Pitch and Toss"byRoy
McLean(Hodder & Soughton, 1957)
"Cape Summer"
by Alan Ross (Hamish Hamilton,
1957)
"Report from South Africa
- with P B H May’s M.C.C. team 1956/57" by E W Swanton (Robert Hale, 1957)