The personnel of the
1891-92 team were rather more distinguished than the English touring side in South Africa three winters previously,
although many of the leading cricketers - such as Briggs - had already
committed themselves to tour Australia.
Despite it being far from anything like England's first-choice team, Mr
W.W.Read's tour group was far too strong, particularly in bowling, for the
opposition it met. It did not lose one game. It seems unrealistic that the
only match played on equal terms (eleven-a-side) is now described as a Test
match. For one thing, two Australian Test cricketers, Ferris and Murdoch, as
county players became members of the touring party, but went on to represent England.
Hearnes
Before the team left South Africa, there was time for an extra
match played against a Malay team for the financial benefit of the team's
professionals, the only recorded case of a coloured team in South Africa playing against an
English team until ....
At the end of the tour
the captain and manager were arrested until they provided security to cover a
loan of £1000 which had been advanced by a Cape Colony
businessman to cover expenses not met by the gates.
Middle-order batsmenBilly Murdoch,
George Hearne, Walter Read, Victor Barton, George Ayres, George Brann.
Wicket-keeper:Harry Wood,
Edwin Leaney.
All-rounder: Bill Brockwell
Faster bowlers:J J Ferris, Fred
Martin, Jack Hearne, Dick Pougher.
Ayres,
G W
Sy
20
RHB
Barton,
V A
Ha
24
RHB
Mr G Brann
Sx
26
RHBRFM
Brockwell,
W
Sy
27
RHBRFM
Chatterton,
W
Dy
30
RHB opener(OB)
Mr J J Ferris
Gs
24
LM
Hearne,
A
Kt
28
RHB openerLB
Hearne,
G G
Kt
35
LMdeputy
captain
Hearne,
J T
Mx
24
RM
Leaney,
E
Kt
31
WK
Martin,
F
Kt
30
LFM
Mr W L Murdoch
Sx
37
RHB
Pougher, A D
Le
26
RFM
Mr W W Read
Sy
36
RHBRM
Wood,H
Sy
37
WK
County representation:
Dy – Derbyshire (1)
Gs -Gloucestershire (1
Ha - Hampshire (1)
Kt-Kent
(4)
Le-Leicestershire (1)
Mx-Middlesex (1)
Sy-Surrey (4)
Sx - Sussex (2)
Average age ofteam at time of first Test match
(19 March 1892) :
29 yrs 4 months
Test
Appearances made before the tour
Murdoch 18 for Australia, Read
15, Ferris 8 for Australia, Wood 3, Martin 1, Ayres 0, Barton 0, Brann 0, Brockwell 0, Chatterton 0, A Hearne 0, G G Hearne 0, J T Hearne 0, Leaney 0, Pougher 0.
Tour
Officials
Mr Edwin Ash
Tour Secretary
J Leaney
Umpire
The manager, Edwin Ash, was a leading figure in Richmond Cricket
Club and a member of the Surrey committee.
In the summer of 1891 he had organised the English rugby tour of South Africa.
Selectors
The team was organised by Mr A.E.Bridgette, a businessman and
club cricketer from South London.
Selection
Unavailable : All those touring Australia with Dr W.G.Grace, or touring America
with Lord Hawke.
Also, Bill Lockwood and C.J.M.Fox (both Surrey) and Billy Newham (Sussex) who
were named in the original list of tourists in October.
Tour Party Announced : ?
Time
between selection and departure from England
? days
(October ? - 21 November)
Travel
Southampton TCape Town
‘Dunottar Castle’
The team left London’s Waterloo
Station on the morning of 21 November 1891 for Southampton, and sailed from
the quayside on the 'Dunottar
Castle'.
The team played matches on deck against the crew.
The ship called at Madeira en route, and arrived at Cape Town on 8 December
1891.
Time
spent in South Africa
107 days
(8
December - 24 March)
Reinforcements
None.Mr Brann sprained an
ankle at Port Elizabeth
and was unable to appear in the later matches.
The ship was delayed by one
day, "waiting for the mails". The captain, Walter Read, and
manager, Edwin Ash, had been arrested until they made arrangments to cover
the £1000 loan made to cover expenses at the beginning of the tour. There was
just time for them to be ferried to the ship before it departed. Then the
team was able to set off for home.
The 'Dunottar
Castle' left Cape
Town on 24 March for Madeira and Plymouth, docking at 10pm on Friday 8
April.
Time
away from England
139 days
(21
November - 8April)
Finances
Accounts
of the tour
“The
Visit of Mr W W Read’s 1891-92 English cricket team to South Africa”by Brian Bassano& Rick Smith (published by John
McKenzie, Ewell, 2007)