Robert Graham (cricketer)

Robert Graham - A lower-order batsman, medium pace bowler and a safe pair of hands in the field, Robert Graham enjoyed a brief first-class career either side of the 20th century. He was born, of all places(!), in Grahamstown, Cape Province, South Africa, on 16 September 1877 and died near Eastbourne, Sussex, England, on 21 April 1946, aged 78. He made his debut for Western Province against Transvaal in the Currie Cup final of 1897/98 but did nothing of note in the victory that gave his side their fourth domestic title. However, he took five wickets for 54 runs in his next match playing for Cape Colony against Lord Hawke’s touring England side of 1898/99 and was subsequently selected for the 1st Test match because of it. Played at the Old Wanderers Ground, Johannesburg, in February 1899, he took 2 wickets for 60 runs in the match and held two catches as England won by 32 runs. He then took 6 wickets for 97 runs, again for a Cape Colony XI against the tourists, which secured his place for the 2nd Test. Unfortunately, in what was a very poor match for him, he took just 1 wicket for 67 and scored only two runs, a victim of A.E. Trott in both innings. After two years out of the sport, Graham was invited to tour England with South Africa in 1901. On the trip he recorded his highest first-class score, 63 not out against Leicestershire, and took five wickets in an innings three times. These came in both innings of the match against Derbyshire – 6 for 84 and 5 for 47, thereby also giving him his only haul of ten wickets in a match – and the match against Worcestershire, 8 for 90. For some reason or other, no obituary appeared within Wisden for Graham after his death in 1946. He was the brother of J.M. Graham (Transvaal), the nephew of D.K. Graham (Western Province) and the uncle of T.L. Graham (Western Province).

References

1. World Cricketers - A Biographical Dictionary by Christopher Martin-Jenkins published by Oxford University Press (1996)
2. The Wisden Book of Test Cricket, Volume 1 (1877-1977) compiled and edited by Bill Frindall published by Headline Book Publishing (1995)
3. Who's Who of Cricketers by Philip Bailey, Philip Thorn & Peter Wynne-Thomas published by Hamlyn (1993)
4. www.cricketarchive.com/Archive/Players