Test Cricket Tours - New Zealand to South Africa 1953-54

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

J G Leggatt

C

27

LHB

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