Lives in Cricket No 32 - Eric Rowan

82 could not create the collapse that would have given them victory. Lowson (37) was assisted by Compton (19) and Watson (15) before captain Freddie Brown struck out boldly to make 40 and take his team within sight of the target. Victory was achieved by four wickets, but it was far from a comfortable win. Chubb had taken three for 53 off 28 overs, and along with Athol, had made them fight every step of the way. The South Africans went off to play the last first-class games of the tour having lost the series 3-1. It was closer than that and, while they were certainly outplayed in the Second and Third Tests, they came close to drawing the series. Eric stood head and shoulders above the rest of the batsmen, with 515 runs at 57.22, the highest aggregate and average on both sides. Nourse’s thumb injury, aggravated by his superb double century in the First Test, prevented him from producing his best in the remainder of the series. His 301 runs at 37.62 meant that his other eight innings produced less than a hundred. He still finished second behind Eric. The bowling was led by forty-year-old Geoff Chubb, who captured 21 wickets at 27.47 in his one and only series. Athol Rowan was the best of the rest with 18 wickets at 34.38 while Mann had 10 at 26.40 in his four games. A poignant moment of those final first-class games was Mann’s last appearance on the field when he sent down six wicketless overs in the rain-ruined match against Middlesex. At the end of the tour Eric sat atop the first-class figures with 1852 runs at 50.05, nearly 700 ahead of the next best, Jack Cheetham who scored 1196 at 42.71. Fullerton, McGlew and Waite all passed a thousand runs, the last two only just. Nourse made 673 runs at 25.88, with nearly a third of them coming in one innings. He announced his retirement at the end of the tour. In his book South African Cricket 1947-1960 Brian Bassano wrote, ‘Rowan’s batting was nothing short of remarkable. He was almost totally responsible for the £17,500 profit. He carried the batting and led the team with great acumen, aggression and skill. In other times he would have been first choice as South African captain. Rowan, a chirpy extrovert, but with determination and courage rare in South African cricket during his career, upset many with his outspokenness and there was little rapport between him and manager Sid Pegler.’ Wisden thought enough of his efforts to name Eric one of their five Cricketers of the Year and described his importance to the team. ‘Except for occasional matches, he literally carried the side in Consequences