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| Test Cricket Tours - England to South Africa 1948-49
| Tour of South Africa 1948-49
Captain : Frank Mann  | | | | (M. C.
C. tour) | ©Test Cricket Tours 2015 | | | 38th England Test
tour. (October 1948 - March
1949) Twelfth Test playing
tour of South Africa by England (previous tour 1938-39) | This was an uplifting tour from England's point of view. The team
went undefeated and narrowly won the first and last Test matches of the
five-Test series, so recovering from the damage Australia had inflicted in 1948.
The first Test at Durban
was won on the very last ball of the match when Gladwin ran a leg-bye. In
the final Test at Port Elizabeth England again
took victory by a whisker after being set 172 runs to win in only an hour and
a half, making the runs with a minute to spare. “Dudley Nourse’s captaincy
showed definite signs of lacking enterprise, initiative and quick thinking at
critical moments” (Green). Disappointingly, none of the 'finds' of the tour (Mann, Griffith,
Jenkins or Watkins) proved to be quite good enough over the next few years to
play an important part in England's
team. 'Roly' Jenkins replaced Hollies in the tour party on 12
September, when the latter withdrew. Jenkins was unable to overcome his
anxiety about flying and travelled by road throughout the tour, accompanying Bill
Ferguson with the baggage. Both Denis Compton and George Mann met their future wives during
the tour. | Other England tours Previous
Test tour West Indies 1947-48 Next
Test tour Australia 1950-51 Next
tour of South Africa 1956-57 | | | Members of the Test tour party (16 ) Opening batsmen: Len Hutton, Cyril Washbrook, Reg Simpson Middle-order batsmen Jack Crapp, Allan Watkins,
Frank Mann, Denis Compton, Charles Palmer Wicket-keepers: Godfrey Evans, Billy Griffith Slow bowlers: Doug Wright, Roly Jenkins,
Jack Young. Fast bowlers: Alec Bedser, Cliff Gladwin, Maurice
Tremlett. | Bedser,
A V | Sy | 30 | RMF | | Compton,
D C S | Mx | 30 | RHB SLA | | Crapp,
J F | Gs | 36 | RHB | | Evans,
T G | Kt | 28 | WK | | Gladwin,
C | Dy | 32 | RFM | | S C Griffith | Sx | 34 | second
WK vice-captain | | Hollies, W E
w/d | Wk | 36 | LBG | | Hutton,
L.
| Yo | 32 | RHB
opener | | Jenkins,
R O added | Wo | 30 | SLA | | F G Mann | Mx | 31 | RHB captain | | C H Palmer | Le | 29 | RHB (RM) | | R T Simpson | Nt | 28 | RHB
opener | | Tremlett,
M F | Sm | 25 | RHB RMF | | Washbrook,
C | La | 34 | RHB
opener | | Watkins,
A J | Gm | 26 | RHB LMF | | Wright,
D V P | Kt | 34 | LBG | | Young,
J A | Mx | 36 | SLA | |
| County representation: Dy - Derbyshire (1) Gm - Glamorgan (1) Gs - Gloucestershire (1) Kt - Kent (2) La - Lancashire
(1) Le - Leicestershire (1) Mx - Middlesex (3) Nt - Nottinghamshire (1) Sm - Somerset (2) Sy - Surrey
(1) Sx - Sussex (1) Wo - Worcestershire (1) Y - Yorkshire
(1) Average age of team at time of first Test match (16 December 1948) : 31
yrs 4 months. | | | Test
Appearances made before the tour | Hutton
32, Compton 27, Wright 22, Evans 20, Washbrook 19, Bedser 16, Young 4, Crapp 3,
Tremlett 3, Gladwin 2, Griffith
1, Watkins 1, Jenkins 0, Mann 0, Palmer 0. Simpson 0. | | | | Tour Officials | Brigadier
Mike Green | Manager | Doug Meintjes | South
African liaison | Bill
Ferguson | Scorer
/baggage |
Meintjes
was golf club secretary of the Wanderers Club in Johannesburg
and had toured England
with the South African cricket team in 1935. | | | | Selectors | A J ‘Jack’ Holmes (chairman),
Walter Robins, John Clay,
Brian Sellers, Pelham Warner. | | | | Selection | M.C.C. announced on 9 August that Frank Mann had accepted as
captain, and Mike Green as manager on 12 August. Unavailable :
Bill Edrich, Wilf Wooller, Norman Yardley and Jack Ikin were
unavailable for business reasons. Joe Hardstaff had a coaching contract in Auckland, New
Zealand.
Cambridge
University would not
release John Dewes. Charles Barnett decided to retire, as did Kenneth Cranston; both
went to play league cricket. Tour party announced : 12 August 1948. Fourteen on the team were named on 12 August. Tremlett and Hollies took the last two
places on 26 August. Withdrawal : Eric Hollies withdrew unfit, and Roly Jenkins
replaced him on 12 September. Len Hutton
was declared fit to tour on 3 September. | Time between selection and departure from England 56 days (12 August
- 7 October) | | | Travel Southampton T Cape
Town ‘Durban
Castle’ | On 6 October the traditional dinner was held for the departing
players at The Tavern at Lord’s, before staying at the Great Western Hotel,
Paddington, for the night. Next morning the team caught a train from Waterloo Station to Southampton where the Union Castle Line gave a farewell
luncheon. The team departed from Southampton Docks at 4 pm on the 'Durban Castle',
and reached Madeira on 10 October for a two-hour
stay. The ship reached Cape
Town at dawn on 22 October, disembarking at 9:15 am.
The players drove out to the Balmoral Hotel in Muisenberg, their base for the
first ten days of the tour. | Time spent in South Africa 147 days (22
October - 18 March) | | | On-tour
selection panel | Frank Mann (captain), Billy Griffith (vice-captain), Mike Green
(tour manager), Cyril Washbrook and Len Hutton (senior professionals) | | | | Reinforcements | None. | | | | Fixtures/Results | a | Cape
Town | Western Province | Won 9 w | b | ϯ Robertson | Boland
Country Districts (3-day) | Won inns 100 r | c | Cape
Town | Cape Province | Won 10 w | d | Kimberley | Griqualand West | Won inns 72 r | e | Bloemfontein | Orange
Free State | Won 9 w | f | Durban | Natal | Drawn | g | ϯ Pretoria | Governor-General’s XI (1-day) | unknown | h | Benoni | North-eastern Transvaal | Won inns 203 r | i | ϯ Pretoria | Combined Transvaal (2-day) | Drawn | j | Johannesburg | Transvaal | Drawn | k | DURBAN | SOUTH AFRICA First Test | WON 2
w | l | ϯ Ladysmith | Natal Country Districts (2-day) | Won 6 w | m | JOHANNESBURG | SOUTH AFRICA Second Test | DRAWN | n | CAPE TOWN | SOUTH AFRICA Third Test | DRAWN | o | Port
Elizabeth | Eastern Province | Drawn | p | East London | Border | Won inns 27 r | q | Johannesburg | Transvaal | Drawn | r | Bulawayo | Rhodesia | Drawn | s | Salisbury | Rhodesia | Drawn | t | JOHANNESBURG | SOUTH AFRICA Fourth Test | DRAWN | u | Pietermaritzburg | Natal XI | Drawn | v | Durban | Natal | Drawn | w | PORT ELIZABETH | SOUTH AFRICA Fifth Test | WON 3
w | x | Cape
Town | Combined Universities | Won inns 52 r |
| † not first-class Time spent in South Africa before First Test: 55 days (22 October - 16 December) | | | Test
appearances on tour (v South Africa 1948-49) | 5 - Bedser, Compton, Gladwin, Hutton, Jenkins, Mann, Washbrook, Watkins. 4 - Crapp. 3 - Evans, Wright. 2 - Griffith, Young. 1 - Simpson. 0 - Palmer, Tremlett. | | | | Match
appearances T Test match o one-day international x other match ⊕ T/20 international ∙ played for opposition W won L lost D drawn N no
result A 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 | x | A Bedser | x | | x | | x | x | | | x | x | T | x | T | T | | | x | | x | T | x | x | T | | D Compton | x | x | x | x | | x | | x | | x | T | | T | T | x | | x | x | x | T | x | | T | x | J Crapp | x | | x | | x | x | | | x | | | x | T | T | x | x | x | | x | T | x | x | T | | G Evans | x | | | x | | x | | | | x | T | | T | T | | x | | | x | | x | | | x | C Gladwin | x | x | | x | | x | | x | x | x | T | x | T | T | x | x | | x | x | T | | x | T | x | S C Griffith | | x | x | | x | | | x | x | | | x | | | x | | x | x | | T | x | x | T | | L Hutton | x | x | x | | x | x | | | | x | T | x | T | T | | x | x | | x | T | | x | T | | R Jenkins | | x | x | x | x | | | x | x | | T | x | T | T | | x | | x | | T | x | | T | x | F Mann | x | x | x | x | x | x | | x | x | x | T | | T | T | x | x | x | x | x | T | | x | T | x | C Palmer | | x | x | | x | x | | x | x | | | x | | | x | x | x | x | | | x | x | | x | R Simpson | x | x | | x | x | | | x | x | x | T | x | | | x | | x | x | | | x | x | | x | M Tremlett | | x | | x | x | | | x | x | | | x | | | x | x | x | x | | | x | x | | x | C Washbrook | x | | x | x | | x | | x | x | x | T | | T | T | | x | | x | x | T | | | T | x | A Watkins | | x | | x | x | | | x | | x | T | x | T | T | x | x | | x | x | T | x | | T | x | D Wright | x | | x | x | x | x | | | x | x | T | | T | T | x | | x | | x | | x | x | | x | J Young | x | x | x | x | | x | | x | | x | | x | | | x | x | x | x | x | T | | x | T | | R E S U L T S | W | W | W | W | W | D | u | W | D | D | W | W | D | D | D | W | D | D | D | D | D | D | W | W |
| | | | Highlights | • England scored 608 in the first
innings of the second Test: • Len Hutton (158) and Cyril Washbrook (195)
shared an opening partnership of 359 • • • | | | | Tour
Summary | | F | W | L | D | unknown | Aban | Test Matches | 5 | 2 | 0 | 3 | - | - | Other first-class matches | 15 | 7 | 0 | 8 | - | - | †Minor matches | 4 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 1 | - | All Matches | 24 | 11 | 0 | 12 | 1 | - |
| F Fixtures W Won
L Lost
D Drawn T Tied Canc Cancelled
Aban abandoned | | | Return
to England Cape Town T Southampton ‘Stirling
Castle’ | On 18 March 1949 the team sailed out of Cape
Town on the 'Stirling Castle'
reaching Las Palmas
on 28 March. They disembarked at Southampton
on 1 April. The team
was met at Waterloo Station by Lord Gowrie, President of M.C.C., and cricket
celebrities. | Time away from England 177 days
(7 October -1 April ) | | | Finances | The South African Cricket Association
(its Board of Control) paid all expenses and took all the gate money, which
made the tour extrememly profitable for them but they tended to economise on
accommodation and transport (journeys like 36 hours on the train from Cape
Town to Port Elizabeth) until the Board agreed to the manager’s requests for
changes: “We flew from Salisbury to Johannesburg which took about three hours
instead of three days on the train” (Green). The professionals complained
about what they were paid compared with players visiting England and did not think it fair
they were not given more of the profits but their fees had been agreed with
M.C.C. before the tour started. Just before the final Test Pienaar of the
South African Cricket Association awarded every member of the team a bonus of
£75 | | | | Accounts
of the tour | “Gone with the Cricketers" by John
Arlott (Longmans, Green &
Co, 1950) Chapters 4 to 9 in “Sporting
Campaigner” by Brigadier M A Green (Stanley Paul & Co,
1956) “The M.C.C. tour of South
Africa 1948/49” video narrated by Charles
Palmer (2002). | | | | Postscript | The next planned tour (to India) was
cancelled. The M.C.C. committee felt
that, with the effects of National Service and full employment, cricket had
not yet recovered from the effects of the Second World War. There was a great
strain on the leading players. M.C.C.'s
winter tour for 1949-50 had been cancelled on 13 July 1948. as the start of a
planned reduction in tours for the full-strength England team. M.C.C. would now
give priority to England's
traditional opponents, Australia
and South Africa.
As a result of this decision a
Commonwealth XI tour party, captained by Jock Livingston, was organised to
tour India
in 1949-50 instead. | | | | Other
Test tours in 1948-49 | West Indians in India
1948-49 - captain John Goddard. | ©Test Cricket Tours 2015 | | | 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. cricketweb.net; ESPN cricinfo; cricket archive 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)
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