Lives in Cricket No 34 - Frank Mitchell

81 Johannesburg 1901 - 1904 [Barkly West] was done by Cape Cart. I was sent over to Colesberg to help against De Waal. We had little hope in such a Dutch constituency but we worked hard even to the extent of bringing down the Hebrews who had traded in Colesberg from Johannesburg during the Boer War… I was bundled out [of one meeting]. A young Englishman was no man for them [the Dutch], and I must confess that I was not sorry. We lost the election, but had kept De Waal quiet, so had done our share.’ Religion, race and colour were all too plainly factors in the South African elections of more than a century ago. Views expressed then would not be acceptable today but represented the opinion of many white South Africans and British people. Indeed Mitchell may have remembered a decision recorded in the MCC Minutes of 15 June 1896 that reflected the views of the cricket establishment in selecting an England Test team – ‘ K.S.Ranjitsinhji should not play for England as only those of British Extraction should play.’ In 1904 Frank Mitchell, then approaching 32 years of age, must have looked forward to quieter times in his homeland and another season on the cricket fields of England.