| Tour of South Africa
1953-54 Captain : Geoff
Rabone | |
| | | | |
| Fourth New Zealand
Test tour (October
1953 - March 1954) First Test-playing tour of South
Africa by New Zealand
(no previous tour) ⋆1 “
When the day’s play was over you didn’t see some of the players for dust.
Cliques developed. It was apparently the same problem Curly Page had had in England in
1937” ; John Reid said “…how
frustrating it must have been for Rabone when not everyone’s attitude measured
up” from ‘John Reid : A
Cricketing Life’ by Joseph Romanos (Hodder, Moa, Beckett 2000) | Merv Wallace was captain during
the 1952-53 home series against the South Africans, and Walter Hadlee was
asked to make himself available to lead the side on the forthcoming South Africa
tour. But neither of them was appointed as captain nor went on the tour and the
choice fell on Geoff Rabone, originally not willing to make the trip himself. Rabone had difficulties with some of the
players who lacked self-discipline (⋆1) but he handled the side
well until he was injured on the eve of the fourth Test when Bert Sutcliffe
took over the reins. The New Zealanders lost four of
the five Test matches played. However, they were not disgraced and on two
occasions (in the 2nd and 3rd Tests) looked likely to win a Test match for
the first time. In John Reid New Zealand had found a world-class all-rounder. Bert
Sutcliffe was also a top-flight batsman, while fastish bowler Tony MacGibbon
took 22 wickets at an average of 20; but the team was too dependent upon
these three and most of the rest were little more than adequate. The
experience of Wallace and Hadlee would have been of immense value to the
fragile batting. Bob Blair suffered a personal tragedy (⋆2) when his
fiancee in New Zealand
was killed in the Tangiwai railway disaster. He remained on the tour as it
would be weeks after the funeral until he could arrive home. ⋆2 source: Richard Boock in
Sunday Star Times | All New Zealand
tours Previous tour England 1949 Next tour Pakistan & India 1955-56 Next tour of South
Africa 1961-62 | |
| Members of the Test
tour party (14 + 1) Opening batsmen Bert
Sutcliffe, Geoff Rabone [replaced
in Australia
by Gordon
Leggatt], Murray Chapple. Middle-order batsmen John
Reid, Laurie Miller, Matt Poore, John Beck, Eric Dempster. Wicket-keepers Frank Mooney Spin bowlers Bill Bell. Fast bowlers Bob Blair, Tony MacGibbon, Guy Overton, Ian
Leggatt. | J E F Beck | - | 19 | LHB | | W Bell | A | 22 | LB | | R W Blair | W | 21 | RFM | | M E
Chapple | C | 23 | RHB | | E W
Dempster | W | 28 | LHB SLA | | I B Leggatt | CD | 23 | RM | | A R MacGibbon | C | 29 | RHB RFM | | L S M Miller | CD | 30 | LHB | | F L H Mooney | W | 32 | WK | | G W F Overton | O | 34 | RFM | | M B Poore | C | 23 | RHB (OB) | | G O Rabone | A | 32 | RHB LB
captain | | J R Reid | W | 25 | RHB RM | | B Sutcliffe | O | 32 | LHB (SLA) | | |
|
Representation
of teams (Plunket Shield teams) A - Auckland (2) C - Canterbury (3) CD - Central Districts (2) O - Otago (2) W - Wellington (4) Central Districts started
playing first-class cricket from the 1950-51 season. John Beck had played only for
minor associations in North
Island Average age of team at time of first Test match (11 December 1953) : 26 yrs 11
months. | |
| Test Appearances
made before the tour | Sutcliffe 11, Mooney 9,
Reid 8, Rabone 7, MacGibbon 3, Blair 2,
J G Leggatt 2, Miller 2, Chapple 1,
Dempster 1, Poore 1, Beck 0,
Bell 0, I B Leggatt 0, Overton 0. | | |
| Tour Officials | Jack Kerr | Manager | Bill Ferguson | Scorer-baggage |
Murray
Foreman took over as scorer when Bill Ferguson needed an operation in Cape Town. | | |
| Selectors | Jack Kerr, Merv Wallace, Bert Sutcliffe, Ken Uttley. | | |
| Selection | There were two trial
matches, in Wellington and Christchurch. The team was selected five months before
the tour began. Unavailable
: John Hayes (working in import-export business); Walter Hadlee
(retired in 1952). Tour Party Announced : 31 March 1953. Not selected:
Gordon Leggatt, Tom Burtt and Alex
Moir were left out of the second Test against South Africans at Auckland (March
1953) because of their lack of fitness or weight and thus missed out on a
place in this touring party, too. Geoff Rabone was persuaded
to take on the captaincy and this is presumably why Wallace demurred as a
player. | Time
between selection and departure from New Zealand 185 days (31
March to 1 October 1953) | |
| Travel Wellington T Cape
Town ‘Arawa’ | The team assembled in Wellington on the last day of September.
John Reid had arrived in New Zealand
only a fortnight earlier from England
where he was a professional in the Central Lancashire League with Heywood. At 7:30 am on 1 October 1953 sailed on the ‘Arawa’, via Port Melbourne and
Fremantle, arriving in Cape Town
on 28 October. As in 1949 Bert
Sutcliffe organised fitness training on board the ship. | Time
spent in South Africa 111 days (28
October - 16 February) | |
| On-tour selection
panel | Geoff Rabone (captain), Bert Sutcliffe (vice-captain), John Reid. | | |
| Reinforcements | Geoff Rabone broke a bone in his foot in January just before the
fourth Test match and did not play again on the tour. Gordon Leggatt was flown to Australia, playing in all three
matches there. | | |
| Fixtures/Results | a | Cape Town | Western Province | Drawn | b | Port Elizabeth | Eastern Province | Drawn | c | Bloemfontein | Orange Free State | Won 1 w | d | Durban | Natal | Drawn | e | Bulawayo | Rhodesia | Drawn | f | Pretoria | North Eastern Transvaal | Drawn | g | Johannesburg | Transvaal | Drawn | h | DURBAN | SOUTH AFRICA First Test | LOST inns 58 r | i | Benoni | North Eastern Transvaal | Won 3 w | j | JOHANNESBURG | SOUTH AFRICA Second Test | LOST 132 r | k | CAPE TOWN | SOUTH AFRICA Third Test | DRAWN | l | Kimberley | Griqualand West | Drawn | m | Pietermaritzburg | Natal | Drawn | n | East London | Border | Won inns 60 r | o | JOHANNESBURG | SOUTH AFRICA Fourth Test | LOST 9 w | p | PORT ELIZABETH | SOUTH AFRICA Fifth Test | LOST 5 w | q | Cape Town | Western Province | Drawn | r | Perth | Western Australia | Won 184 r | s | Adelaide | South Australia | Won 8 w | t | Melbourne | Victoria | Drawn | | | | | u | Christchurch | New Zealand XI | Won inns 69 r |
| † not first-class Time spent in South Africa
before First Test: 44 days (28 October - 11 December) | |
| Test appearances on
tour | 5 - Chapple,
MacGibbon, Mooney, Poore,
Reid, Sutcliffe. 4 - Beck,
Blair, Dempster, Miller. 3 - Overton,
Rabone 2 - Bell 1 - I B Leggatt 0 - J G Leggatt. | | |
| Match
appearances T Test match x other match ∙ 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 | J E F Beck | | x | x | | x | x | x | | x | T | T | x | x | x | T | T | x | x | x | x | | x | W Bell | | x | x | | x | x | | | x | | T | x | | | | T | x | | x | | | | R W Blair | x | x | | x | x | | x | T | x | T | | x | | | T | T | | x | x | | | x | M E
Chapple | x | x | | x | x | x | x | T | x | T | T | x | x | x | T | T | x | x | | | | | E W
Dempster | x | | x | x | x | x | | T | x | | T | x | x | x | T | T | x | x | | x | | x | I B Leggatt | | x | x | x | | x | | | x | | T | x | | | | | x | | | x | | | A MacGibbon | x | | x | x | | x | x | T | x | T | T | | x | x | T | T | x | x | x | x | | x | L S M Miller | x | | x | x | x | x | x | T | | T | | x | x | x | T | T | | | x | x | | x | F L H Mooney | x | x | x | x | | x | x | T | x | T | T | x | x | x | T | T | x | x | x | x | | x | G W F Overton | x | x | | x | x | | x | T | | T | | x | x | x | T | | x | x | x | x | | x | M B Poore | x | x | x | | x | x | x | T | x | T | T | | x | x | T | T | x | x | x | x | | x | G O Rabone | x | x | x | x | x | | x | T | x | T | T | x | x | x | | | | | | | | x | J R Reid | x | x | x | x | x | x | x | T | x | T | T | | x | x | T | T | x | x | x | x | | | B Sutcliffe | x | x | x | x | x | x | x | T | | T | T | x | x | x | T | T | x | x | x | x | | x | J G Leggatt | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | x | x | x | | x | R E S U L T S | D | D | W | D | D | D | D | L | W | L | D | D | D | W | L | L | D | W | W | D | | W |
| New Zealand’s previous Test tour results: in England
1949 (4 Tests) - drew 0-0 in England
1937 (3 Tests) - lost 0-1 in England
1931 (3 Tests) - lost 0-1 | |
| Highlights | • John Reid was the first tourist to South Africa
to score 1000 runs and take 50 wickets. • Geoff Rabone defied the hostile South
African attack to score 107 and 68 in the first Test match. • Bert Sutcliffe’s 80 not out at Johannesburg was made
after he’d been struck on the head by Adcock. • New Zealand
racked up its highest innings total of 505 in the third Test at Cape Town. • John Reid scored his maiden Test century
(135) and John Beck just missed his, being run out for 99. • Rabone took 6 for 86 at Cape
Town and was able to force South Africa to follow-on. • Gordon Leggatt’s scores on joining the
tourists in Australia
were: 45, 67, 61, 121*, 11 and 34 | | |
| ⋆Tour Summary | | F | W | L | D | Aban | Test Matches | 5 | 0 | 4 | 1 | - | Other first-class matches | 16 | 6 | 0 | 10 | - | ϯ Minor matches | 0 | - | - | - | - | All Matches ⋆ | 21 | 6 | 4 | 11 | - |
⋆
(includes the match against a New Zealand
XI at Christchurch
on returning home) | F Fixtures W Won
L Lost
D
Drawn Canc Cancelled Aban abandoned | |
| Return to New Zealand Cape
Town T Fremantle ‘Dominion Monarch’ MelbourneQChristchurch | The team sailed out of Cape
Town on the ‘Dominion
Monarch’ on 16 February 1954. The ship berthed at Fremantle
on 4 March. In Australia
they played three further matches. While John Reid left for England
by ship from Port Melbourne, the team flew from Melbourne’s
Essendon Airport
to Christchurch
on 25 March. Two days later they reassembled to play a match against New
Zealand XI at Christchurch,
starting on 27 March. | Time
spent in Australia 21 days (4
March - 25 March) Time
away from New Zealand 175
days (1
October 1953 to 25 March 1954) | |
| Finances | “The payment to each tourist was £650” (Men
in White, 1986) | | |
| Written accounts of
the tour | “Silver
Fern on the Veld” (1954) by R T Brittenden (Howard Timmins / A H & A W Reed, Wellington) | | |
| Postscript | As a result of Neil Adcock’s bouncer at Johannesburg sending Bert
Sutcliffe to hospital, the South African captain in 1956-57 would not allow
Adcock and Heine to bowl more than one bouncer per over against England; but against Australia in 1957-58 Richie
Benaud says (in “Anything but an
Autobiography”) that they sent down plenty. | | |
| Other Test tours in
1953-54 | England (M.C.C.) to West
Indies 1953-54 | | |