Eighth Test-playing tour of England by South Africa
(April - September 1955)
The first South African team to fly abroad made seven stops and took 26 hours to reach Heathrow.
The engrossing series of 1955 was the first occasion in England on which each Test of a five-match series produced a result.England claimed comfortable victories in the first two Test matches, only to falter in the next two. Cheetham broke a bone in his elbow at Lord’s and missed these two Test matches so vice-captain McGlew had to take over and won both times. Anarrow victory was gained with only nine balls to spare in the third Test before giving England a thorough beating in the fourth. This brought the series to a climax at The Oval with the teams all-square but the visitors suffered a great disappointment by collapsing against Lock and Laker after twice dismissing England cheaply. They lost the match and thus the rubber.
However, only the South African side of 1935 had achieved better results in England before and it confirmed the progress made two years previously in Australia.
A R Ralph (convenor),G W A Chubb,A D Nourse,A Melville.
Selection
Unavailable:C B van Ryneveld (for business reasons -a lawyer)
Tour Party Announced:29 January 1955.
Not selected:
Time between selection and departure from South Africa
84 days
(29 January to 23 April)
Travel
Departure was on 23 April.The team flew from Jan Smuts Airport, Johannesburg, via Lusaka, Cairo and Rome, arriving at London Airport on 24 April.
Time spent on tour in England149 days
(24 April - 20 September)
On-tour selection panel
Jack Cheetham (captain),Jackie McGlew (vice-captain),Russell Endean,Ken Viljoen (manager).
Reinforcements
None.Cheetham broke a bone in his elbow at Lord’s and missed these two Test matches in which McGlew deputised and won both matches. Adcock broke a bone in his foot and missed the Test match at Headingley.
Fixtures/Results
ϯ Blackheath
Union Castle
Worcester
Worcestershire
Lost 117 r
Derby
Derbyshire
Drawn
Trent Bridge
Nottinghamshire
Drawn
Cambridge
Cambridge University
Drawn
Lord’s
M C C
Won 93 r
Oxford
Oxford University
Won inns 137 r
Cardiff
Glamorgan
Drawn
Colchester
Essex
Drawn
Old Trafford
Lancashire
Drawn
TRENT BRIDGE
ENGLANDFirst Test
LOST inns 5 r
Taunton
Somerset
Won inns 32 r
Hove
Sussex
Won 9 w
LORD’S
ENGLANDSecond Test
LOST 71 r
Northampton
Northamptonshire
Drawn
Sheffield
Yorkshire
Won 193 r
OLD TRAFFORD
ENGLANDThird Test
WON 3 w
Kennington Oval
Surrey
Won 82 r
HEADINGLEY
ENGLANDFourth Test
WON 224 r
ϯ Stoke-on-Trent
Minor Counties
Drawn
Swansea
Glamorgan
Won 226 r
Edgbaston
Warwickshire
Won 10 w
Cheltenham
Gloucestershire
Drawn
Leicester
Leicestershire
Won inns 117 r
KENNINGTON OVAL
ENGLANDFifth Test
LOST 92 r
Southampton
Hampshire
Won 275 r
Canterbury
Kent
Won 8 w
Lord’s
Middlesex
Won 235 r
Hastings
England XI
Drawn
ϯ Sunderland
Durham
Won inns 324 r
Scarborough
T N Pearce’s XI
Won 4 w
ϯ Carlisle
Cumberland & Westmoreland
Drawn
† not first-class
Time spent in England before First Test:46 days
(24 April - 9 June)
Test appearances on tour
5-Endean,Goddard,McGlew,McLean,Tayfield,Waite.
4-Adcock,Heine,Keith,Mansell
3-Cheetham,Winslow
2-Fuller
1-Smith
0-Duckworth,Murray.
Highlights
•Heine had bowling figures of 5-60 at Lord’s and 5-68 at Old Trafford
•Three South Africans scored centuries in the innings at Old Trafford: McGlew 104*, Waite 113 and Winslow 108 as South Africa accumulated 521 runs
•McGlew (133) and Endean (116*) also scored Test centuries at Headingley where South Africa again totalled 500 for the innings.
•McGlew scored 476 runs in the series despite bagging a pair at Lord’s.
•Against Lancashire Winslow hit spinner Jack Ikin for 30 runs (4,4,6,6,4,6) off one over
•Tayfield took 26 wickets in the Test series and 143 on the whole tour
Tour Summary
P
W
L
D
Aban
Test Matches
5
2
3
0
-
Other first-class matches
23
13
1
9
-
†Minor matches
3
1
0
2
-
All Matches
31
16
4
11
-
Return to South Africa
The flight home was postponed by a day, delayed by an electrical fault in the South African Airways Constellation so members of the team spent the day sightseeing.They were able to leave at 9:30 am the following day, 20 September, on the same plane.
Arrangement to convey players on to Cape Town, Port Elizabeth, Durban and Rhodesia on arrival at Johannesburg all needed to be re-made.
Paul Winslow remained in England to marry the actress Moira Gray at Purley in October.
Time away from South Africa150 days
(23 April to 20 September)
Finances
Profit £ 36 000
Published accounts of the tour
“I Declare”by Jack Cheetham
“Behind the South African Tests”by Norman Cutler
“Springbok Glory”byLouis Duffus
“England vs South Africa”by Bruce Harris
“Almost Champions”by Werner Bernhard (the first book on a South African tour in Afrikaans).