Famous Cricketers No 78 - Bruce Mitchell

(133) against the tourists for Transvaal. His bowling however was very expensive. In the ‘timeless’ Test where slow scoring was the common factor - Van der Bijl’s 125 the longest innings and Nourse’s century being the slowest - Mitchell’s name was absent despite his dour reputation. His 89 in the second innings must have been reasonably quick. The whole match played over ten days was a travesty regarding over-prepared pitches and it was commented on at the time ‘that anyone who wanted to be a bowler these days must have been mad’. Perhaps the Second World War did much to see the end of these pitches and in hindsight it was no bad thing, but still today with the covered pitches, batsmen have it much their own way. Perhaps for the older generation who saw the scenes at Kennington Oval in 1948, in particular, with piles of ‘sawdust’ and ‘doom and gloom’ light with Lindwall and Miller firing on all cylinders which would hardly be tolerated today, is a memory on which to look back. Own Team O M R W Opp Ct Total Total 116. Transvaal v MCC, Johannesburg, December 16, 18, 19 (Match drawn) lbw b L.L.Wilkinson 133 428-8d 13 1 51 0 268 c K.Farnes b L.L.Wilkinson 38 174-2 117. SOUTH AFRICA v ENGLAND, Johannesburg, December 24, 26, 27, 28 (Match drawn) b K.Farnes 73 390 22 2 75 3 P.A.Gibb c A.Melville 422 2 E.Paynter b N.W.D.Yardley c and b not out 48 108-1 11 1 58 0 291-4d 1 118. SOUTH AFRICA v ENGLAND, Cape Town, December 31, January 2, 3, 4 (Match drawn) b D.V.P.Wright 42 286 20 0 81 0 559-9d c L.E.G.Ames b K.Farnes 1 201-2 119. SOUTH AFRICA v ENGLAND, Durban, January 20, 21, 23 (England won by an innings and 13 runs) c L.E.G.Ames b W.J.Edrich 30 103 8 0 45 0 469-4d 1 c L.E.G.Ames b K.Farnes 109 353 120. Combined Transvaal XI v MCC, Johannesburg, January 27, 28, 30 (Match drawn) c H.T.Bartlett b T.W.J.Goddard 83 304 13 1 73 1 N.W.D.Yardley st R.E.Grieveson 434 did not bat - 220-2 121. SOUTH AFRICA v ENGLAND, Johannesburg, February 18, 20, (21), 22 (Match drawn) c L.E.G.Ames b K.Farnes 63 349-8d 12 3 37 2 L.Hutton b 215 1 H.Verity c E.A.B.Rowan 12 1 42 0 203-4 122. SOUTH AFRICA v ENGLAND, Durban, March 3, 4, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, (11), 13, 14 (Match drawn) b D.V.P.Wright 11 530 7 0 20 0 316 hit wkt b H.Verity 89 481 37 4 133 1 L.Hutton b 654-5 SEASON’S AVERAGES Batting and Fielding M I NO Runs HS Ave 100 50 Ct Test matches 5 9 1 466 109 58.25 1 3 5 Other Transvaal matches 1 2 0 171 133 85.50 1 - - Other matches 1 1 0 83 83 83.00 - 1 - Season 7 12 1 720 133 65.45 2 4 5 Career 122 199 22 7657 195 43.25 18 38 149 Bowling O M R W BB Ave 5i 10m Test matches (8b) 129 11 491 6 3/75 81.83 - - Other Transvaal matches (8b) 13 1 51 0 - - - - Other matches (8b) 13 1 73 1 1/73 73.00 - - Season (8b) 155 13 615 7 3./75 87.85 - - Career (6b) 1210.2 152 } 5180 216 6/33 23.98 15 2 (8b) 328.2 35 19