Lives in Cricket No 32 - Eric Rowan

4 Foreword by John Watkins South Africa 1949-50 to 1956-57 (15 Tests) Eric and I became great friends. I think because we both had the same outlook. Try and enjoy every second of your life. The beginning of my time as a friend of Eric’s was the First Test against the Australians in Johannesburg in 1949-50. You may or may not have known that Eric’s province was Transvaal and I was from Natal and there was no love between us. The supporters had the same feelings. I opened the bowling with Cuan McCarthy and, as you can imagine, I was a bundle of nerves and decided my first few would be outside the off stump until I was settled. You can imagine my feelings when my first two balls swung away and the umpire had no hesitation in calling them wides. The Transvaal supporters never booed so loudly in their lives. I just stood transfixed, then I heard a voice behind me say, ‘Don’t worry, the batsmen haven’t scored yet. Just hold the ball with your fingers across the seam.’ It was Eric and he had come from cover. I can’t imagine what the result would have been if he had not saved me. Eric was a man’s man and aggressive in all aspects of life, business and sport, and was never beaten until the final whistle blew. He was a very clever captain and knew the game inside out and his sledging was equal to any Aussie, but in a nice way. He was well respected by his teammates because he always stood by them whether they were right or wrong until they were in the dressing room where he would tear a strip off them. I remember getting a century against Transvaal and who was the first to congratulate me? Eric. As a batsman his main assets were his concentration and his attitude of never giving his wicket whether he had one hundred or two hundred. He was not a great stroke maker, scoring most of his runs square behind the wicket, so consequently was a very good back foot player. This, I believe, came about as he had played his early cricket on matting.