Lives in Cricket No 32 - Eric Rowan

37 Melville was handicapped by a leg injury and made 23, batting with a runner. With South Africa trailing by 273 and 200 minutes remaining Hammond enforced the follow on and was rewarded almost immediately with the prize wicket of Mitchell who was caught by Ames off the pace of Ken Farnes. This brought Eric to the crease, with another failure likely to end his Test career. He had a lucky escape when he glanced Farnes and was dropped at leg slip by Hammond. He made the most of the opportunity, adding 147 in 129 minutes before van der Bijl was out hit wicket to Tom Goddard for 87. Their partnership had removed any chance for an England victory as Eric and Nourse batted through to stumps, with the final total being 201 for two. The Transvaal batsman was undefeated on 89 having spent a minute under three hours at the crease and hitting seven fours. More importantly he had saved his career with his highest Test score. Little was written about Eric as most of the post-match comment centered on the tardy declaration of the England captain. No one could understand why Hammond had batted on into the third day of a four-day game if he was really trying to force a win. His safety- first approach was roundly attacked from all quarters, especially as play had started late, at 3.30 pm, on the first day. No such criticism was reserved for Hammond after the Third Test at Kingsmead in Durban when his side emerged comprehensive victors by an innings and 13 runs. After a correct call of the coin the England captain made another century, 123 this time, as his side scored 469 for four before he called a halt. The star of the show was the Lancashire left-hander Eddie Paynter who made 243. The pace of scoring was much improved from the previous game and during the innings not a single maiden over was bowled. This allowed Hammond to declare before lunch on the second day. When asked about this Eric simply said, ‘They hammered the life out of us.’ The South African openers took their side to lunch without loss and after the break extended their partnership to 60 before both were dismissed in quick succession, van der Bijl run out in a poor piece of judgment. From there the innings disintegrated to 103 all out. Eric fell leg before to a well-disguised top spinner from Wright. Melville again batted low in the order, coming in at number eight and remaining undefeated on five. This was hardly an example of leading from the front and would have gained him Restoration