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‘Bats and Bayonets’: Cricket and the Anglo-Boer War, 1899–1902

2005; Routledge; Volume: 25; Issue: 1 Linguagem: Inglês

10.1080/17460260500073033

1746-0271

Dean Allen,

Sport and Mega-Event Impacts

Abstract Cricket is perhaps the quintessential English game, evoking images of green fields and dreaming spires. ‘No other game’, writes Hughes, ‘captures the peace and tranquillity of an English summer afternoon quite like cricket.’ Footnote1 Just as cricket speaks of England at peace, so too, perhaps because of Newbolt's much-quoted ‘Vitai Lampada’, was it bound up with England and the way she saw herself at war. Inevitably when war descended upon England and her colonies, cricketers rallied and were rallied to the ranks. And wherever the fight took them, cricket went too. The Duke of Wellington watched his guards playing cricket at Enghien a few days before Waterloo and on the day after the battle of Chernaya in the Crimea a match was played between the Guards division and the ‘Leg of Mutton Club’, a team of officers from other regiments.Footnote2 The Anglo-Boer War of 1899–1902 was no different. Former teammates were forced onto opposing sides and some fine cricketers were killed. Yet on more than one occasion it was the game of cricket that crossed the conventional boundaries of politics and warfare. It is no surprise, then, that with the conflict coming at a time when cricket had already established itself within the colonies of Southern Africa, cricket and war should become inexorably linked. Notes 1. G. Hughes, ‘The Veil of War’, in South African Cricket Union, A Century of South Africa in Test and International Cricket (Johannesburg, 1989), pp. 14–15. 2. G. Hughes, ‘The Veil of War’, in South African Cricket Union, A Century of South Africa in Test and International Cricket (Johannesburg, 1989, p. 14. 3. Reader's Digest, Illustrated History of South Africa (Cape Town, 1988), p. 245. 4. Reader's Digest, South Africa's Yesterdays (Cape Town, 1981), p. 233. 5. D.R. Black and J. Nauright, Rugby and the South African Nation (Manchester, 1998), p. 22. 6. D. Booth, The Race Game (London, 1998), p. 28. 7. D. Booth, The Race Game (London, 1998), p. 29. 8. W.H. Vatcher, White Laager: The Rise of Afrikaner Nationalism (London, 1965), p. 3. 9. M. Streak, The Afrikaner as Viewed by the English, 1795–1854 (Cape Town, 1974), p. 220. 10. M. Streak, The Afrikaner as Viewed by the English, 1795–1854 (Cape Town, 1974), p. 221. Based on the theology of John Calvin. For a detailed account of the Calvinist origins of the Afrikaner civil religion, see T.D. Moodie, The Rise of Afrikanerdom (Berkeley, CA, 1975), pp. 22–38. 11. C. Greyling, ‘From hyper-imperialist to Super-Afrikaner: the developments within a white theology, Journal for the Study of Religion, 5 (2) (1992), pp. 47–63. 12. The ‘liberal’ policy of the British towards black Africans appeared to Moodie, Rise of Afrikanerdom, p.3, as ‘particularly designed to provoke the Afrikaners’. 13. A. Lerumo, Fifty Fighting Years (London, 1971), p. 9. 14. Born in the Eastern Cape in 1825 Kruger took part in the Great Trek as a child. He was three times President of the Transvaal and a strong opponent of British interests in South Africa. 15. Booth, The Race Game, p. 29. 16. Vastly outnumbered, on 16 December 1838 a group of Voortrekkers defeated a Zulu army deep in the heart of Natal. During the apartheid years, this date was celebrated by Afrikaners as the ‘Day of the Vow’, a public holiday honouring a covenant made by the Boers with God himself that if he granted them victory, they would hold the day sacred. 17. D. Harrison, The White Tribe of Africa (London, 1981), p. 24. 18. D. Harrison, The White Tribe of Africa (London, 1981), p. 24. 19. See I.R. Smith, The Origins of the South African War, 1899–1902 (Harlow, 1996). 20. M. De Villiers, White Tribe Dreaming (New York, 1987), p. 203. 21. M. De Villiers, White Tribe Dreaming (New York, 1987), p. 203. 22. S.J.P. Kruger, The Memoirs of Paul Kruger (Colonial Edition) (London, 1902), p. 290. 23. H. Meysey-Thompson, The Transvaal Crisis (London, 1899), p. 6. 24. J. De Reuck, ‘A politics of blood: The White Tribe of Africa and the recombinant nationalism of a colonising indigene’, Critical Arts, 10(2) (1996), pp. 139–57, p. 140. 25. De Villiers, White Tribe Dreaming, p. 204. 26. P.M. Krebs, Gender, Race, and the Writing of Empire (Cambridge, 1999), p. 5. 27. P.M. Krebs, Gender, Race, and the Writing of Empire (Cambridge, 1999), p. 9. 28. K.T. Surridge, Managing the South African War, 1899–1902 (Woodbridge, 1998), p. 62. 29. K.T. Surridge, Managing the South African War, 1899–1902 (Woodbridge, 1998), p. 63. 30. K.T. Surridge, Managing the South African War, 1899–1902 (Woodbridge, 1998), p. 63. 31. M.D. Blauch, ‘British Society and the War’, in: P. Warwick and S.B. Spies, eds., The South African War (Harlow, 1980), pp. 210–38, p. 215. 32. E.W. Said, Culture and Imperialism (London, 1994), p. 8. 33. Krebs, Gender, Race, pp. 145–146. 34. D. Adair, M. Phillips and J. Nauright, ‘Sporting manhood in Australia: Test cricket, rugby football, and the imperial connection, 1878–1918’, Sport History Review, 28 (1997), pp. 46–60. 35. J. Winch, Cricket in Southern Africa (Rosettenville, 1997), p. 16. 36. The notice read: ‘A grand match at cricket will be played for 1,000 dollars a side on Tuesday, January 5, 1808, between the officers of the Artillery Mess, having Colonel Austin of the 60th Regiment, and the officers of the Colony, with General Clavering. Wickets to be pitched at 10 o'clock.’ Cape Town Gazette and African Advertiser, 2 January, 1808. In Winch, Cricket in Southern Africa, p. 16. 37. See Diamond Fields Advertiser, December 1899, p. 19. 38. R. Archer and A. Bouillon, The South African Game: Sport and Racism (London, 1982), p. 81. 39. See A. Odendaal, ‘South Africa's Black Victorians: Sport and Society in South Africa in the Nineteenth Century’, in J.A. Mangan, ed., Pleasure, Profit, Proselytism: British Culture at Home and Abroad 1700–1914 (London, 1988), pp. 193–214., p. 196. 40. Archer and Bouillon, The South African Game, p. 83. 41. V. De Kock, The Fun They Had! The Pastimes of Our Forefathers (Cape Town, 1955), p. 79. 42. R. Holt, ‘Cricket and Englishness: The batsman as hero’, International Journal of the History of Sport, 13 (1996), pp. 48–70., p. 48. 43. R. Holt, ‘Cricket and Englishness: The batsman as hero’, International Journal of the History of Sport, 13 (1996), pp. 48–70., p. 48. 44. See I.D. Difford, ed., The History of South African Rugby Football (1875–1932) (Cape Town, 1933). 45. See Booth, The Race Game. Emerging during the 1880s, eugenics, the ‘science of race improvement’, was promoted specifically during the Boer War era by its progenitor Francis Galton. G. Searle, ‘“National Efficiency” and the “Lessons” of the War’, in: D. Omissi and A.S. Thompson, eds., The Impact of the South African War (Basingstoke, 2002), pp. 194–214., p. 198. 46. Archer and Bouillon, The South African Game, p. 79. 47. Archer and Bouillon, The South African Game, p. 79. 48. Diamond Fields Advertiser, December 1899, p. 19. 49. Archer and Bouillon, The South African Game, p. 79. 50. A. Grundlingh, ‘Playing for power? Rugby, Afrikaner Nationalism and masculinity in South Africa, c.1900–70’, in: J. Nauright and T.J.L. Chandler, eds., Making Men-Rugby and Masculine Identity (London, 1996); Archer and Bouillon, The South African Game. Also see D.C. Allen, ‘Beating them at their own game’, International Journal of the History of Sport, 20 (3) (2003), pp. 37–57. 51. It would have been common at this time for a team of England's status to have faced teams who batted more than eleven men. England's first game against Western Province, for example, saw them having to dismiss twenty-two opponents. See M. Lee, and R.K. Stent, eds., Southern Africa at Sport (Cape Town, 1960), p. 61. 52. For an insight into Australian cricket's colonial past, see W.F. Mandle, W.F, Going it Alone: Australia's National Identity in the Twentieth Century (Melbourne, 1978) and Adair; Phillips and Nauright, Sporting manhood. 53. For a first-hand account, see Lord Hawke, Recollections and Reminiscences (London: Williams and Norgate, 1924). Also see S.H. Pardon, ed., John Wisden's Cricketers Almanack (London, 1897). 54. Born in Scotland, entrepreneur James Douglas Logan had made his fortune on the railways in South Africa and was instrumental in organizing many of the early cricket tours. Logan financed South Africa's controversial second tour to the UK in 1901. 55. P.C. Standing, Cricket of Today (London, 1902), p. 135. 56. R. Knowles, South Africa versus England: A Test Cricket History (Cape Town, 1995), p. 35. 57. E.J.L. Platnauer, ed., Sport and Pastime in the Transvaal (Johannesburg, 1908), p. 20. 58. H.H.S Pearse, A History of Lumsden's Horse (London, 1903), p. 130. 59. Pretoria Friend, 5 July 1900, p. 3. 60. F.D. Price, The Great Boer War, 1899–1901. Letters (York, 1987), p. 132. 61. B. Green, The Wisden Book of Obituaries (London, 1986), p. 716. 62. Price, The Great Boer War, p. 143. 63. A.U. Udal, in Cricket: A Weekly Record of the Game, 30 Jan. 1902, p. 2. 64. Cricket, 25 Jan. 1900, p. 7. 65. F. Pretorius, Life on Commando During the Anglo-Boer War 1899–1902 (Cape Town, 1999), p. 112. 66. Pretorius, Life on Commando, p. 112. 67. Quoted in Winch, Cricket in Southern Africa, p. 44. 68. W. Hillcourt, Baden-Powell, The Two Lives of a Hero (Cape Town, 1964), p. 197. 69. Quoted in Winch, Cricket in Southern Africa, p. 44. 70. Green, Wisden Book of Obituaries, p. 486. 71. Green, Wisden Book of Obituaries, pp. 262, 624. 72. E.M. Wessels, ‘British Army Plays Cricket’, Knapsak, 4 (1992), pp. 19–20, p. 19. 73. M.G. Dooner, The Last Post (London, 1903), p. 359. 74. In C.H.B. Pridham, The Charm of Cricket Past and Present (London, 1949), p. 49. 75. Ironically, a Boer commandant – Pretorius – who had fought against the Prince shortly before but had surrendered to him was one of the umpires in the prince's last match. 76. Winch, Cricket in Southern Africa, p. 45. 77. In Pridham, Charm of Cricket, p. 55. 78. L. Creswicke, South Africa and the Transvaal War (Edinburgh, 1901), p. 141. 79. Murray Bisset in Cricket, 1 Aug. 1901, p. 579. 80. J.D. Campbell, ‘Training for sport is training for war: Sport and the transformation of the British Army, 1860–1914’, International Journal of the History of Sport, 17 (2000), pp. 21–58. 81. C. Martin-Jenkins, The Complete Who's Who of Test Cricketers (London, 1980), p. 313. 82. D.H. Craven, The Legends of Springbok Rugby (Howard Place, 1989), p. 72. 83. P. Bailey, P. Thorne and P. Wynn Thomas, Who's Who of Cricketers (London, 1983), p. 970. 84. Cricket, 25 Jan. 1900, p. 7. 85. Cape Argus, 25 Aug. 1900, p. 5. 86. Cape Argus, 25 Aug. 1900, p. 5. 87. Bailey et al., Who's Who, p. 970. 88. The innings took 80 minutes. Winch, Cricket in Southern Africa, p. 47. 89. See Campbell, ‘Training for sport’, p. 50. 90. MCC, 9 August 1900, p. 330. 91. MCC, 25 January 1900, p. 9. 92. Campbell, ‘Training for sport’, p. 50. 93. R.S.S. Baden-Powell, Aids to Scouting to NCOs and Men (Reprint of the original edition of 1899) (Houston, TX, 1994). 94. For an account of this incident see Hillcourt, Baden-Powell, p.197 and Winch, Cricket in Southern Africa, p.44. Baden-Powell was also author of Sport in War, a 1900 account of his ‘sporting’ experiences while on military service in Rhodesia and South Africa. In this book, the analogy between war and sport is clear. 95. F.J.G. Van der Merwe, ‘Sport and games in Boer prisoner of war camps during the Anglo-Boer War, 1899–1902’, International Journal of the History of Sport, 9 (3) (1992), pp. 439–455 and F.J.G. Van der Merwe, ‘Rugby in the prisoner of war camps during the Anglo-Boer War 1899–1902’, paper given at ‘Football and Identities’, international conference encompassing research on all football codes, University of Queensland, Australia, 21–23 March 1997. 96. Van der Merwe, ‘Sport and games’. 97. E.M. Wessels, ‘Tog speelden wij jolly cricket!’, Knapsak, 1 (1989), pp. 11–12. p. 11. 98. Van der Merwe, ‘Sport and games’, p. 97. 99. Wessels, ‘Tog speelden’ (1989), p. 11. 100. M. Steyn, private interview, Stellenbosch. 13 Nov. 2001. 101. Wessels, ‘Tog speelden’ (1989), p. 11. 102. E.M. Wessels, ‘Tog speelden wij jolly cricket!’, Knapsak, 3 (1991), pp. 19–20; Ceylon Independent, 5 and 6 July 1901. 103. Ceylon Independent, 1901, p. 1. 104. Wessels, ‘Tog speelden’ (1991), p. 20. 105. Winch, Cricket in Southern Africa, p. 45. 106. Ceylon Independent, 1901, p. 3. 107. Wessels, ‘Tog speelden’ (1991), p. 20. 108. According to the Ceylon Independent as a condition of this parole, the team had ‘given their word that they would not enter in the discussion of any “controversial” subjects’ – the press included! Ceylon Independent, 1901, p. 1. 109. Ceylon Independent, 1901, p. 1. 110. Ceylon Independent, 1901, p. 1. 111. Wessels, ‘Tog speelden’ (1991), p. 20. 112. Wessels, ‘Tog speelden’ (1991), p. 19. 113. Wessels, ‘Tog speelden’ (1991), p. 19. 114. Ceylon Independent, 1901, p. 4. 115. Wessels, ‘Tog speelden’ (1991), p. 19. 116. Ceylon Independent, 1901, p. 15. 117. Wessels, ‘Tog speelden’ (1991), p. 19. 118. Wessels, ‘Tog speelden’ (1991), p. 19. 119. Wessels, ‘Tog speelden’ (1991), p. 19. 120. The signing of the surrender document by the Boer Republics was completed at Vereeniging on 31 May 1902. 121. The 1902–3 Australians were the first fully representative side to visit South Africa. They won the first two Tests; the third was drawn. See W.H. Coleman, South Africa versus England and Australia Test Cricket 1888–1928 (London, 1928). p. 103. 122. An ambitious programme saw the 1904 side equip themselves well, winning thirteen and losing only three of their twenty six matches. W.A. Powell, The South Africans in England 1894–1965 (Royston, 1994). p. 30.