Lives in Cricket No 32 - Eric Rowan

7 notes, through video recordings for a television history of South African cricket, and through his own memories of knowing the man whom he called ‘the toughest Springbok’. He also interviewed Eric’s fellow South Africans as well as opponents from England and Australia. Many of their comments appear in this book. Brian firmly believed that Eric would make a great subject for a biography, but sadly he passed away before he could undertake the task himself. As the inheritor of Brian’s research material, that privilege falls to me. Brian was right. Eric Rowan was one tough character. One of my friends watched some of the interviews and said that Eric was more like an Australian than a South African and that he reminded him of an older Ian Chappell. The former Australian captain was a fine player, a strong leader, a tough character and the bane of administrators, so the comparison was an apt one. Eric himself said that he liked Australians and the way they played the game. Unfortunately, Eric’s approach fitted the period from the 1930s to the 1950s even less than Chappell’s did in the rebellious seventies. He was, indeed, a player ahead of his time. Love him or hate him, no one was indifferent to Eric Rowan. In spite of the way his Test career ended and the various controversies that occurred along the way, Eric Rowan was a significant cricketer. He was a batsman who dredged out every ounce of ability he possessed and one who endured through the years to such an extent that in his final series, at the age of 42, he finished on top of the averages and aggregates for both sides. He would have continued on had the administrators allowed him to do so. Given the chance, he would have made a good captain of his country if the authorities had been prepared to trust him with the task. On the one occasion when he did lead the South Africans on the field, he took them to a Test victory over England. So, it is with gratitude to Brian Bassano and all those family members, especially Eric’s daughter Diane, and former colleagues and opponents that his story can be told so that those who only know of him through scorecards and statistics can gain a closer look at the life of ‘the toughest Springbok’. Rick Smith Prospect Tasmania 2013 Introduction