Double Headers

108 South Africa - Welcome to the triple-header seven occasions when both provincial XIs played at home simultaneously – as Surrey had done in 1909, but as has not happened in any of the other double-headers noted previously in this book. Here are brief details of these instances: Season Play dates Fixture Venue Result 1979/80 15-16-17 Mar Zimbabwe-Rhodesia v E Province Bulawayo L 15-16-17 Mar Zimbabwe-Rhodesia B v Transvaal B Salisbury D 1982/83 12-13-15 Nov Northern Transvaal v Natal Pretoria D 12-13-15 Nov N Transvaal B v Orange Free State Benoni L 1982/83 2-3-4 Dec Eastern Province B v Boland Port Elizabeth D 4-5-6 Dec Eastern Province v Northern Transvaal Port Elizabeth D 1983/84 3-4-5 Nov Northern Transvaal B v E Province B Pietersburg D 4-5-7 Nov Northern Transvaal v Transvaal Pretoria D 1986/87 1-2-3 Jan Natal v Northern Transvaal Durban D 1-2-3 Jan Natal B v Boland Pietermaritzburg D 1994/95 11-12-13-14 Nov Western Province v Orange Free State Cape Town L 11-12-13 Nov W Province B v Western Transvaal Cape Town W 1997/98 20-21-22-23 Feb Northerns v Eastern Province Centurion L 20-21-22 Feb Northerns B v Easterns Pretoria W There were thus three instances when a provincial side was playing two matches simultaneously in the same city or conurbation. In December 1982 Eastern Province’s game against Northern Transvaal was played at the main ground in Port Elizabeth (St George’s Park) while their B team was playing at the ground of the University of Port Elizabeth; in November 1994 Western Province played OFS at Kingsmead while their B team was playing Western Transvaal at the ground of Tigers CC in the Cape Town suburb of Parow; and in February 1998 Northerns were playing in the Pretoria suburb of Centurion while their B team were occupied at the L.C.de Villiers Oval near the city centre. But we shouldn’t get too excited about the proximity of these matches. The two grounds in Port Elizabeth are over 7.5km apart (straight-line distance), the two in Pretoria some 14km apart, and the two in Cape Town over 15km apart, so if you were an avid spectator you couldn’t just pop out of one game and into the other. (For comparison, the straight-line distance between Lord’s and The Oval in London is about 6.5km.)