Lives in Cricket No 32 - Eric Rowan

33 Australian Summer innings. Harvey had made a century for Natal against the tourists and the selectors hoped that he could carry the same form into the Tests. He also made a second century for Natal between the Fourth and Fifth Tests. In fact, apart from Dudley Nourse, none of the local batsmen coped with the Australian attack. One thing Eric’s dropping did do was to confirm his lack of respect for many of those in administration. He felt that they just did not understand the game because most had not played it at any significant level and his suspicion of those in authority would be a continuing story for the remainder of his career. As the series progressed the Australian spinners exerted an increasing dominance, winning both the remaining Tests by an innings. When speaking of the South African batsmen, Bill O’Reilly said ‘They never seemed to settle against us.’ The leg trap of Jack Fingleton and Vic Richardson caused particular problems with the Australian skipper taking six catches, including five in an innings, in the Fifth Test. The Australian bowlers certainly dominated with Grimmett taking 44 wickets at 14.59 and O’Reilly 27 wickets at 17.03. It was not just the bowling as McCabe (420 runs at 84.00), Fingleton (478 runs at 79.66) and Brown (417 runs at 59.57) ensured there were plenty of runs to play with. This compared with the South Africans where only Nourse (518 runs at 57.55) matched them, but 231 of his runs came in one innings. Eric’s 197 runs at 32.83 placed him third in the averages behind Nourse and Jack Siedle (332 runs at 33.20), figures that make dropping him all the more puzzling. The South African bowlers paid dearly with Langton (12 wickets at 44.33) and Mitchell (10 wickets at 33.00) the leading wicket-takers. They were the statistics of a side completely outclassed by their opponents. For the South Africans the promise of the 1935 victory in England had ebbed rapidly away. Death, injuries, illness, retirements and exhaustion had decimated Herby Wade’s team and, following the Australian tour, the South African captain announced his retirement from Test cricket. It would be three years before the Springboks played another Test, so it would be some time before the rebuilding could start. There would be opportunities for new players to come forward and for experienced ones such as Eric to recapture their form.