Lives in Cricket No 2 - Johnny Briggs

was prominent in local cricket circles and was a member of Western Province CC. He came to England to make arrangements for the tour and as a result the side was known as Major Warton’s team. Warton was educated at Highgate School in north London and is listed as a famous Old Cholmeleian, a distinction he shares with Philip Tufnell, the former Middlesex and England off-spinner, who also attended Highgate. In addition to managing the team, Warton stood as an umpire in both Tests in the series. The side was captained by Charles Aubrey Smith, who had captained Sussex in 1888 and had been on Shaw and Shrewsbury’s tour to Australia and New Zealand the previous winter. The tourists set out from England on the Garth Castle on 21 November, calling at Lisbon and Madeira en route and arrived at Cape Town on 14 December. Like the Orient , on which Briggs had first sailed to Australia, the Garth Castle was built by John Elder and Company on the Clyde. She was named after Sir Donald Currie’s estate in Scotland. The link with Currie continued when at a farewell banquet on board, Currie, who was head of the Castle Mail Packets Company, presented a cup to be awarded by the English team to the side which had excelled most against them. On handing over the trophy, Currie said: ‘I think the cricketers out there would like to keep the cup among themselves in recollection of your visit and as a gift from myself.’ Kimberley had the distinction of winning the inaugural trophy and the Currie Cup was for many years the equivalent of England’s county championship. The rugby union version of the Currie Cup was established four years later and is still South Africa’s premier regional tournament. The tour was less physically demanding than previous Australasian tours with matches played over a 50-day period between 21 December, 1888 and 26 March, 1889. They travelled around 3,000 miles utilising a variety of modes of transport, including bullock carts in places, to fulfil a fixture list which comprised of 19 matches, 17 against odds sides. Most of the games were on matting or compacted soil pitches. It was on this tour that Briggs produced one of the most sensational bowling performances in Test match history. It happened in the Second Test of the two-match series, which England won 2-0, although the games were not afforded Test match status until 1907. In fact, the England touring party was a mixed bunch containing acknowledged stars like Briggs, Surrey’s Bobby Abel and Ulyett, who had replaced James Roberts who was 44 Taking a hundred wickets for the first time