This article describes the history of South African cricket from its known beginnings until the end of the First World War in 1918.
First-class cricket was introduced to South Africa in the 1888-89 season with the arrival of the first English touring team and the presentation by Sir Donald Currie of the Currie Cup which was first contested in the 1889-90 season.
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European colonisation of southern Africa began on Tuesday 6 April 1652 when the Dutch East India Company established a settlement called the Cape Colony on Table Bay, near present-day Cape Town. Cape Colony slowly expanded along the coast and into the hinterland throughout the 17th and 18th centuries. It was originally founded as a victualling station for the Dutch East Indies trade route but soon acquired an importance of its own due to its good farmland and mineral wealth.
There was no significant British interest in South Africa until the colony was seized by British forces in 1795 under General Sir James Craig during the French Revolutionary War, the Netherlands having fallen to Bonaparte in the same year. British policy was to secure the colony against French encroachment in the name of the Dutch Stadtholder Willem V. Under the terms of the short-lived Treaty of Amiens in 1803, Cape Colony was handed back to the Netherlands, or the Batavian Republic as Bonaparte wished it to be known. In 1806, with the Napoleonic Wars proper now under way, Britain again invaded and seized Cape Colony, this time with permanent designs on it. The whole territory was formally ceded to Great Britain in 1814 by the Anglo-Dutch Treaty and administered as Cape Colony until it joined the Union of South Africa in 1910.
Cricket arrived very quickly once the British had finally taken over with the earliest definite reference to the game in South Africa dated 1808.
On 5 January 1808, a match between two teams of English officers is the earliest definite reference to cricket in South Africa.
In 1862, an annual fixture "Mother Country v Colonial Born" was staged for the first time in Cape Town. In 1876, Port Elizabeth presented the "Champion Bat" for competition between South African towns.
On 12 & 13 March 1889, South Africa versus England at St George’s Park Cricket Ground, Port Elizabeth was the start of cricket in South Africa at both Test and first-class level. The England team, captained by future Hollywood actor C Aubrey Smith, played two Tests on the inaugural tour, at Port Elizabeth and Cape Town, winning both by comfortable margins. Lancashire spinner Johnny Briggs had match figures of 15-28 at Cape Town.
Domestic first-class matches began at the end of 1889 (i.e., in the 1889–90 season) when the inaugural Currie Cup competition took place and was won by Transvaal, who defeated Kimberley. Until 1892, the Currie Cup was not nationally contested.
The 1890–91 season had four first-class matches. The first three games were between Eastern Province, Western Province and Griqualand West in the Champion Bat Tournament. Western Province ended up the winners after defeating both their rivals. The last first-class match was for the Currie Cup, the second time the competition was contested and saw Kimberley defeat Transvaal to reverse the preceding season's result.
No domestic matches took place in 1891–92, when England was on tour. In 1892–93, Western Province won the Currie Cup after defeating both their rivals Transvaal by 91 runs and Griqualand West by 109 runs. In the other match, Transvaal beat Griqualand West by 8 wickets.
From then on, although it was not contested every season, the Currie Cup was the established national championship.
In 1903–04 the Currie Cup had a change in format from a qualifying round-robin followed by a final, for which the holders had already qualified, to a knock-out competition. This allowed for the competition to be held in more than one province. In 1904–05, the competition was expanded to allow for the inclusion of Rhodesia.
First-class cricket in South Africa was suspended during the Boer War from 1899 to 1902 and again during the First World War from 1914 to 1919. Competition began again in the 1919–20 season.
For details of this tour, see : English cricket team in South Africa in 1888-89
South Africa won the toss and batted first. They were soon all out for 97, with John Ferris taking 6 for 54. In reply 134 from Henry Wood saw Walter Read's side total 369, a lead of 272 that South Africa were never likely to catch. Ferris's 7 for 37 helped dismiss the South Africans for 83 in their second innings.
The game is more interesting for some historical oddities. Billy Murdoch and Ferris, who had both previously played for Australia, played for England due to residence. Frank Hearne, who played for South Africa in this game, had previously played for England. Finally, the game gives the second instance of three brothers playing in the same Test match, as Frank Hearne's brothers, Alec Hearne and George Hearne played for England. A cousin, John Thomas Hearne also played for the tourists.
This tour included The Reef v MCC at Boksburg. It was scheduled as a four-day match but play only took place on two because of bad weather. Although the two teams consisted of recognised players, the South African Board of Control decided as late as 1930 that it had not been a first-class match. Wisden 1931 reproduced a letter from the SABC which outlined its case. Wisden has ignored the ruling and includes the match in the career figures of all the players who took part, including record-breaking players such as Wilfred Rhodes, Jack Hobbs and Frank Woolley.
It is possible that the SABC thought it was a 2 day match, but Wisden 1911 clearly states that "not a ball could be bowled on the first and fourth days" so it was actually planned as a 4 day match. For more information about this curious affair, see Variations in First-Class Cricket Statistics.
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