Famous Cricketers No 40 - Neil Harvey

eight centuries in a South African season. He struck form almost immediately and hardly put a foot wrong during the whole tour. In the Test series he scored 660 (132.00) which is still the record number of runs in a series in South Africa. This was the first tour of the Union by an Australian side since V.Y.Richardson’s team in 1935/36 and the tour followed the pattern of the 1948 tour of England; the side remained undefeated winning fourteen matches and drawing the remaining seven. In the First Test he contributed only 34 but in the next four he made centuries. At Cape Town he passed his previous best Test score with 178 and incidentally scoring the 500th Test century. At Durban he played one of the all-time great Test innings to bring Australia a remarkable victory. South Africa won the toss and at the end of the first day they were 240-2. From the second day the pitch took spin and after being dismissed for 311 the South Africans bowled out Australia for 75. The chief architect of this was H.J.Tayfield who took 7-23 in eight overs and four balls with his off-spin. A.D.Nourse, the South African captain, was left with the weekend to ponder on whether or not to enforce the follow-on and probably influenced by the threat of rain he decided to bat again. South Africa were dismissed for 99 by W.A.Johnston (4-39) and I.W.Johnson (5-34), the last seven wickets falling for eight runs. Australia, needing 336 runs to win in 435 minutes, ended the day at 80-3 having lost Moroney, Miller and Hassett. Next morning Morris was dismissed at 95 and Australia still needed 241. Harvey refused to be overawed by the task and first of all in a stand of 135 with S.J.E.Loxton (54) and then an unbroken one with C.L.McCool (39*) of 106 he saw his side home to a thrilling victory with twenty-five minutes to spare. He adopted a dogged style quite out of character and batted for five and a half hours to record a chanceless 151*. In the second innings of the Fourth Test he scored 100 out of 170 with J.Moroney (101*) who became the first Australian batsman to score centuries in each innings of a Test match against South Africa. At Port Elizabeth in the final Test he shared in a stand of 187 in two hours and ten minutes with A.R.Morris (157), Harvey’s share being 116 with fourteen fours. Against Orange Free State & Basutoland his innings of 145* was scored in 112 minutes while taking part in an unbroken stand of 221 with S.J.E.Loxton (76*). On the tour he played in nineteen of the twenty-one matches and half-way through the tour he was due to stand down against Border in East London. When the team was announced for the game and his name was missing the local newspaper came out with the headline “No Harvey, No Compton, No Nothing” a reference to the fact that in the season before when Compton was having his run of success he had not played against Border either; Harvey played in the game but made only 29. Own Team O M R W Opp Ct Total Total 47. Australians v Natal, Durban, October 28, 29, 31 (Match drawn) b H.J.Tayfield 30 275 - - - - 144 did not bat - 280-2d 10 1 46 2 W.W.Wade c R.A.Saggers 218-5 D.F.Dowling c R.A.Saggers 48. Australians v North East Transvaal, Benoni, November 5, 7 (Australians won by ten wickets) c F.Seyfried b J.Waller 100 331-4d 135 did not bat - 19-0 214 2 49. Australians v South African XI, Salisbury, November 19, 21, 22 (Australians won by an innings and 72 runs) c T.A.Harris b J.E.Waddington 34 312 84 156 50. Australians v Orange Free State & Basutoland, Bloemfontein, November 26, 28, 29 (Australians won by an innings and 139 runs) not out 145 405-3d 135 131 51. Australians v Western Province, Cape Town, December 2, 3, 5 (Match drawn) c J.E.Cheetham b G.R.M.Bolus 9 235 - - - - 189 c G.R.M.Bolus b S.A.Thwaits 42 216-6d 1 1 0 0 122-6 1 52. Australians v Transvaal, Ellis Park, Johannesburg, December 10, 12, 13 (Australians won by 15 runs) c T.F.Abernethy b A.M.B.Rowan 7 84 125-9d 1 c P.L.Winslow b A.M.B.Rowan 13 109 53 1 10