Lives in Cricket No 32 - Eric Rowan

In addition to the cricket the tour was an incredible social experience. For a young man from the suburbs of Johannesburg there was the opportunity to visit famous places and meet royalty, film stars and many of the rich and famous. There is the saying that travel broadens your horizons and for Eric this was certainly the case and the on-field success just made the experience all the more satisfying. The selectors too must have been immensely satisfied. They had gambled on an inexperienced captain and a number of young players and had been rewarded in every case. They could also look forward to the next series. However, a large part of that optimism was destroyed shortly after the tourists arrived home. The Windsor Castle stopped briefly at the island of Madeira and a number of the players and passengers became ill after the visit. The most seriously affected was ‘Jock’ Cameron. It was initially thought to be some kind of virus, perhaps brought on by a long tour, but his condition worsened and by the time the boat arrived in South Africa he was seriously ill. There is some film of him making a speech on his arrival, but when he reached home in Johannesburg the disease was diagnosed as enteric fever. There was to be no recovery and the best wicketkeeper-batsman in the world, and his country’s most influential cricketer, died on 2 November 1935, aged 30. Fifty years later Eric was still emotional in remembering his old teammate. ‘He was a wonderful chap and a very great player. He was always in the right place at the right time. He was fearless and 23 England 1935 One of the highlights of touring. The South Africans meet the movie stars at Gaumont Studio. [Bassano Collection]