Lives in Cricket No 32 - Eric Rowan

31 captain I ever played under. He knew men and knew how to bring out the best in you. He was a wonderful character. In England he came into my room and woke me up at six o’clock in the morning on the day we were to go to Buckingham Palace. He was probably a bit worried after our visit to Cardiff Castle. We were being shown around. I was looking at a painting of a man on a charger and said, “Who’s that silly old bastard?” Apparently it was one of this chap’s ancestors and he didn’t take it too well. Herby said, “Come on Eric. Play the game.” He stuck to me like body odour for the rest of the day.’ As a result Eric decided to play a bit of a joke on his captain while they were at the Palace. He asked an usher if he could have one of the silver ashtrays. ‘He nearly had a heart attack. Later I managed to slip one into Herbert’s pocket and then asked the usher again if I could have an ashtray. He said no and then I said “Why can’t I have one, that chap’s got one”, and pointed at Herbert. When the usher went over and Herbert reached into his pocket you should have seen the look on his face. He immediately went looking for me, but I was up the other end of the room.’ It was a part of Eric’s character that he needed to respect those people who led the teams he played in. With someone like Herby Wade there was never a problem, but later when others were in charge who could not command his respect there was the potential for conflict. For Eric the series ended unsatisfactorily after a promising start. Australian Summer South African captain Herby Wade, described by Eric as the best captain he ever played under. [Bassano Collection]