Lives in Cricket No 32 - Eric Rowan

36 is accompanied by a photograph of Harvey leading Natal out on to the field. Melville was a fine batsman and a useful bowler, but his long absence from South Africa meant that he probably had little in common with his players, being more in tune with his opponents. As can be seen with his relationship with Wade, it was important for Eric to respect his captain. The English amateur background of Melville was not going to fit with Eric’s hard-nosed approach to the game. Their relationship would be a controversial one. As with the Australian tour of 1935/36, the authorities decided not to hold the Currie Cup, so all first-class cricket played during the summer would involve matches against the MCC. Once again, this seems to have been a foolish measure, giving players no chance to find form at first-class level. For Eric this was a particular issue. Transvaal had only one match against the tourists prior to the First Test and he was not chosen in the side. His non-selection was not surprising given his poor form of the previous season, but, as he had no other opportunity to press a claim for Test selection, he was not included in the team which played a draw at the Wanderers in Johannesburg, where six players made their South African debuts. In a further confirmation of the strange nature of South African selection, Eric was included in the team for the Second Test at Newlands in Cape Town. An injury to Ken Viljoen provided him with an opportunity. One is left to wonder just what happened, when a player could not make his provincial team and then, without further opportunity, was given a Test place. For Eric it was an unexpected opportunity, but before he could have a chance with the bat he was to spend over two days in the field as England scored 559 for nine before Hammond called a halt after a few minutes on the third day. The captain himself made 181, while Les Ames (115) and Bryan Valentine (112) also made the most of the conditions. Bruce Mitchell and Pieter van der Bijl opened the South African innings, intent only on saving the game. In the 77 minutes prior to lunch they made 45 and after the break the partnership was extended to 66 in 112 minutes before van der Bijl was dismissed for 37. Eric came in and continued the defensive approach, taking 40 minutes for six runs before he was bowled by a leg break from Doug Wright who also bowled Mitchell shortly afterwards for 42. After that only a defiant 120 from Nourse took the total to 286. Restoration