Test Cricket Tours - England to South Africa 1956-57

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Tour of South Africa 1956-57 Captain : Peter May

England’s 43rd Test tour.

(October 1956 - March 1957)

13th Test-playing tour of South Africa by England

(previous tour 1948-49)

M.C.C was dominant at the start of the tour up to the first two Test matches then South Africa won the last two matches of the series, their first victories at home since 1930, so that the series was drawn with two wins apiece, the side winning the toss being victorious in each case.

Scoring was low because in general the pitches were not up to standard for Test cricket. At Port Elizabeth, for example, the two sides scored only 538 between them in four completed innings. The South Africans had two extremely accurate, even negative, bowlers in Tayfield and Goodard to keep the runs down. The pace of scoring was desperately slow as well, a number of tedious batting performances being recorded, notably Peter Richardson's slowest-ever Test century at Johannesburg.

Insole and Wardle, who had both initially declared that they were not available to take part in the tour, turned out to be the most successful players.

Other England tours

Previous Test tour

Australia 1954-55

Next Test tour

Australia 1958-59

Next tour of South Africa

1964-65

Members of the Test tour party (16 + 1)

Opening batsmen: Colin Cowdrey, Peter Richardson

Middle-order batsmen Peter May, Denis Compton, Doug Insole, Jim Parks, Alan Oakman

Wicket-keeper: Godfrey Evans, Brian Taylor

All-rounder/opening batsman: Trevor Bailey

Slow bowlers: Johnny Wardle, Jim Laker, Tony Lock

Fast bowlers: Brian Statham, Frank Tyson, Peter Loader

(comments from "Cape Summer" by Alan Ross)

T E Bailey	Ex	33	RHB opener RFM
His cricketing intelligence made him the outstanding player, able to exploit conditions and modify his technique
Compton, D C S	Mx		RHB
His immobility increased. Played not one innings in character, shaking his head at his inability to break free.
M C Cowdrey	Kt		RHB opener
His ease of stroke play and timing made him effortlessly good on fast wickets, but in between looking terrible.
Evans, T G	Kt		WK
Had his off days but never when it mattered; cannot recall him missing anything of consequence
D J Insole	Ex		RHB vice-captain
Accomplished more than anyone could fairly have expected, he played several useful innings
Laker, J C	Sy		OB
Not encouraged to buy his wickets. A tour of anti-climax. Lost something of his old rhythmic ease and precision
Loader, P J	Sy		RFM
Bowled steadily and intelligently but very often down the leg-side. Picked up and threw magnificently.
Lock, G A R	Sy		SLA
Never properly found the right pace for these wickets and spent the whole tour in the shadow of Wardle.
P B H May	Sy		RHB captain
Rarely looked anything but commanding, no matter how brief his authority. As a captain, adequate but unadventurous
Oakman, A S M	Sx		RHB OB
Flashed fours through the covers on every ground in the Union but never promised a long innings in the Tests.
Parks, J M	Sx		RHB
P E Richardson	Wo		LHB opener
Patient opening century. Unhappily, went stale after the fourth Test and was unrecognisable at Port Elizabeth.
Statham, J B	La
Does not bowl badly, ever. Rarely got the stabbing break-back achieved in Australia and less devastating than there.
Taylor, B	Ex		second WK
Tyson, F H	Nth		RF
Not once did he look quick in an important match, never fit enough to let himself go. Batted very pleasingly
Wardle, J H	Yo		SLA
He dominated the first half of the tour and gave England an enormous initial psychological advantage

County representation:

Ex - Essex (3)

Kt - Kent (2)

La - Lancashire (1)

Mx - Middlesex (1)

Nth - Northamptonshire (1)

Sy - Surrey (4)

Sx - Sussex (2)

Wo - Worcestershire (1)

Yo - Yorkshire (1)

Average age of team at time of first Test match

(24 December 1956) :

29 yrs 3 months

Test Appearances made before the tour

Compton 73, Evans 71, Bailey 43, May 34, Statham 31, Laker 29, Wardle 23, Lock 16, Cowdrey 13, Tyson 11, Richardson 5, Insole 3, Loader 2, Oakman 2, Parks 1, Taylor 0.

Tour Officials

Freddie Brown	Manager
George Duckworth	Baggage / Scorer
Harold Dalton	Masseur

M.C.C. announced the appointment of Brown as manager on 15 June.

Selectors

Gubby Allen (chairman), Les Ames, Cyril Washbrook, Wilfred Wooller, Peter May, Doug Insole, Tom Dollery and Freddie Brown

They met in Leeds to draw up a preliminary list asking about availability; and again at the Bath Club in mid-August to select the first thirteen players.

Selection

Peter May was appointed captain on 24 July.

Unavailable : David Sheppard (curacy in Islington) and Cyril Washbrook. Wardle and Insole had both stated they were not available

The selectors first chose thirteen players in mid-August; then added the names of Compton, Parks and Taylor on 23 August, the opening day of the final Test against the 1956 Australians.

Tour party announced : 14 and 23 August 1956.

Apart from one representative from each of Lancashire and Yorkshire and two from the midlands, the selection was dominated by the southern counties.

Reserve : Arthur Milton (in case Compton was unfit).

Not selected : Tom Graveney, Tommy Greenhough, Alan Moss, Fred Trueman, Willie Watson.

Time between selection and departure from England

42 days

(23 August - 4 October)

Travel

Southampton T Cape Town

‘Edinburgh Castle’

The team departed from Southampton on Thursday 4 October 1956 on the "Edinburgh Castle".  They travelled together by train from Waterloo Station, London, except for Trevor Bailey who missed the train and joined the team later.

Sailing via Las Palmas, where there was a 12-hour stop, the "Edinburgh Castle" reached Cape Town on Friday 18 October.

The team flew from Johannesburg to Bulawayo for the Rhodesia match.

Time spent in South Africa

179 days

(18 October - 15 April)

On-tour selection panel

Peter May (captain), Doug Insole (vice-captain), Trevor Bailey, Denis Compton (senior professional), Freddie Brown (manager)

Reinforcements

None. Jim Parks, who suffered double vision after being hit on the head by a ball at catching practice, returned home.

When he was about to leave Heathrow Airport on 19 December to rejoin the tour, Parks collapsed again, now suffering from pneumonia.

Arthur Milton, the reserve batsman, had broken a thumb so May contacted David Sheppard privately, asking whether he would join the team for the last three Test matches. Willie Watson was also mentioned as a possible replacement but in the end no-one reinforced the tour party.

The manager, F R Brown, played in the last match at Cape Town when Tyson was unfit (back injury). This also allowed four other players to go home early.

.

Fixtures/Results

a	ϯ Paarl	Boland & SW Districts	Won inns 127
b	Cape Town	Western Province	Won inns 76
c	Port Elizabeth	Eastern Province	Won inns 201
d	Bloemfontein	Orange Free State	Won inns 168
e	Bulawayo	Rhodesia	Won inns 86
f	Salisbury	Rhodesia	Won inns 292
g	Johannesburg	Transvaal	Won 3 w
h	Pretoria	A South African XI	Lost 38 r
i	Durban	Natal	Drawn
j	Benoni	North-eastern Transvaal	Drawn
k	JOHANNESBURG	SOUTH AFRICA First Test	WON 131 r
l	CAPE TOWN	SOUTH AFRICA Second Test	WON 312 r
m	ϯ Queenstown	Country Districts	Won inns 110
n	East London	Border	Won inns 218
o	Pietermaritzburg	Natal	Drawn
p	DURBAN	SOUTH AFRICA Third Test	DRAWN
q	Johannesburg	Transvaal	Drawn
r	Kimberley	Griqualand West	Won inns 47
s	JOHANNESBURG	SOUTH AFRICA Fourth Test	LOST 17 r
t	Cape Town	Western Province	Drawn
u	PORT ELIZABETH	SOUTH AFRICA Fifth Test	LOST 58 r
v	Cape Town	Combined Universities	Won inns 28

† not first-class

§ one-day internationals

Time spent in South Africa before First Test:

67 days

(18 October - 24 December)

Test appearances on tour

(v South Africa 1956-57)

5 - Bailey, Compton, Cowdrey, Evans, Insole, Laker, May, Richardson.

4 - Loader, Statham, Wardle.

3 -

2 - Tyson.

1 - Lock.

0 - Oakman, Parks, Taylor.

Match appearances

T Test match

o one-day international

x other match

W won L lost D drawn T tied

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

v

T E Bailey

x

x

x

x

x

x

x

x

T

T

x

x

T

T

x

T

D C S Compton

x

x

x

x

x

x

x

T

T

x

x

T

x

T

T

x

M C Cowdrey

x

x

x

x

x

x

x

x

x

T

T

x

x

T

x

T

x

T

x

T G Evans

x

x

x

x

x

T

T

x

T

x

T

T

x

D J Insole

x

x

x

x

x

x

x

x

x

T

T

x

x

x

T

x

x

T

x

T

J C Laker

x

x

x

x

x

x

T

T

x

x

T

x

T

T

x

P J Loader.

x

x

x

x

x

x

x

x

T

x

x

T

x

x

T

T

x

G A R Lock

x

x

x

x

x

x

x

x

x

x

x

x

x

T

x

P B H May

x

x

x

x

x

x

x

T

T

x

x

T

x

x

T

x

T

x

A S M Oakman

x

x

x

x

x

x

x

x

x

x

x

x

x

x

x

J M Parks

x

P E Richardson

x

x

x

x

x

x

x

x

x

T

T

x

T

x

x

T

x

T

x

J B Statham

x

x

x

x

x

T

T

x

T

x

T

x

B Taylor

x

x

x

x

x

x

x

x

x

x

x

x

x

F H Tyson

x

x

x

x

x

x

x

T

x

x

x

x

x

x

T

J H Wardle

x

x

x

x

x

x

x

T

T

x

x

x

T

x

T

x

F R Brown

x

x

R E S U L T S

W

W

W

W

W

W

W

L

D

D

W

W

W

W

D

D

D

W

L

D

L

W

England’s six previous Test tour results

Highlights

• Peter May began the tour with four centuries in the provincial games but averaged only 15 in the Test matches

• Peter Richardson registered the slowest century in the history of Test cricket at Johannesburg (first Test). He took more than 8 hours (488 minutes) to bring up his hundred and remained at the wicket for 525 minutes for his 117.

• Trevor Bailey took 5 for 20 at Johannesburg as England bowled South Africa out for only 72 runs.

• Johnny Wardle with 5 for 53 and 7 for 36 baffled the South African batsmen at Cape Town to win another Test.

• Richardson (68) and Bailey (80) began the England innings at Durban with an opening partnership of 115.

• Tayfield bowled 137 consecutive balls without conceding a run in 16 successive 8-ball maiden overs spanning two innings of the third Test at Durban - a record for first-class cricket. Tayfield captured 37 wickets in the series (average 17) to overtake the longstanding South African record of Arthur Vogler (36 in 1909-10).

• Doug Insole (110 not out) scored his only century in Test cricket in the second innings

• Frank Tyson took 6 for 40 when recalled to the Test side at Port Elizabeth

Tour Summary

	F	W	L	D	Aban
Test Matches	5	2	1	2	-
Other first-class matches	15	9	5	1	-
†Minor matches	2	2	0	0	-
All Matches	22	13	6	3	-

F Fixtures W Won L Lost D Drawn T Tied Canc Cancelled Aban abandoned

Return to England

Johannesburg Q London

Cape Town T Southampton

‘Stirling Castle’

Two days after the final Test ended, those not playing against the Universities flew home early. Four players (Insole, Bailey, Statham, Wardle) went to Johannesburg on 7 March for the flight home to London Airport.

Oakman had already flown home early because of his back injury. Compton remained in South Africa to stay with his wife’s family in Natal.

On 15 March May and seven other players sailed from Cape Town on the 'Stirling Castle', arriving in Southampton a fortnight later on 29 March.

Time away from England

176 days

(4 October - 29 March)

Finances

The M.C.C. received as their 45% share of the outer gate receipts the sum of £59 539 (from South African Cricket Annual 1957).

Accounts of the tour

"The M.C.C. tour of South Africa 1957-57" byCharles Fortune (George Harrap & Co, 1957)

“Pitch and Toss" byRoy McLean (Hodder & Soughton, 1957)

"Cape Summer" by Alan Ross (Hamish Hamilton, 1957)

"Report from South Africa - with P B H May’s M.C.C. team 1956/57" by E W Swanton (Robert Hale, 1957)

Postscript

Other tours in 1956-57

Australia in Pakistan and India 1956-57

(returning from the 1956 England tour)