Charles Bennett "Buck" Llewellyn (29 September 1876 – 7 June 1964) was the first non-white South African
Test cricket
Test cricket is a form of first-class cricket played at international level between teams representing full member countries of the International Cricket Council (ICC). A match consists of four innings (two per team) and is scheduled to last fo ...
er. He appeared in 15 Test matches for South Africa between 1895 and 1912, and played in English cricket as a professional for
Hampshire
Hampshire (, ; abbreviated to Hants) is a ceremonial county, ceremonial and non-metropolitan county, non-metropolitan counties of England, county in western South East England on the coast of the English Channel. Home to two major English citi ...
between 1899 and 1910.
Life and career
Born out of wedlock in
Pietermaritzburg
Pietermaritzburg (; Zulu: umGungundlovu) is the capital and second-largest city in the province of KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa. It was founded in 1838 and is currently governed by the Msunduzi Local Municipality. Its Zulu name umGungundlovu ...
to a Welsh father and a black
Saint Helena
Saint Helena () is a British overseas territory located in the South Atlantic Ocean. It is a remote volcanic tropical island west of the coast of south-western Africa, and east of Rio de Janeiro in South America. It is one of three constitu ...
n mother, the dark-eyed and dark-skinned Llewellyn had an underprivileged upbringing in
Natal
NATAL or Natal may refer to:
Places
* Natal, Rio Grande do Norte, a city in Brazil
* Natal, South Africa (disambiguation), a region in South Africa
** Natalia Republic, a former country (1839–1843)
** Colony of Natal, a former British colony ( ...
, being considered of mixed blood. He showed all round cricketing prowess from a young age as a hard hitting left-handed batsman, slow left-arm bowler (with a dangerous
slow left-arm wrist-spin
Left-arm unorthodox spin, also known as slow left-arm wrist-spin, is a type of spin bowling in the sport of cricket. Left-arm unorthodox spin bowlers use wrist spin to spin the ball, and make it deviate, or 'turn' from left to right after pitchin ...
delivery as part of his arsenal) and a great fielder, particularly at mid-off.
While the racism of late nineteenth-century South Africa had led to other leading non-white players being omitted from representative sides, Llewellyn's ability to pass himself off as white in some cases (
Wilfred Rhodes
Wilfred Rhodes (29 October 1877 – 8 July 1973) was an English professional cricketer who played 58 Test matches for England between 1899 and 1930. In Tests, Rhodes took 127 wickets and scored 2,325 runs, becoming the first Englishman t ...
described him as "like a rather sunburned English player"), helped clear the racial hurdle to selection and he was chosen to make his
first-class debut for Natal against
Transvaal Transvaal is a historical geographic term associated with land north of (''i.e.'', beyond) the Vaal River in South Africa. A number of states and administrative divisions have carried the name Transvaal.
* South African Republic (1856–1902; af, ...
on 13 April 1895, where he took four wickets. While now accepted as a cricketer, Llewellyn would be referred to as "coloured" throughout his career and there are reports of his race-related mistreatment by other South African players.
Duly impressed with his cricketing skill, selectors chose him in a Natal side against
Lord Hawke
Martin Bladen Hawke, 7th Baron Hawke (16 August 1860 – 10 October 1938), generally known as Lord Hawke, was an English amateur cricketer active from 1881 to 1911 who played for Yorkshire and England. He was born in Willingham by Stow, near Ga ...
's England XI and subsequently selected Llewellyn to make his Test debut for
South Africa
South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the north by the neighbouring countri ...
against
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...
at
Johannesburg
Johannesburg ( , , ; Zulu and xh, eGoli ), colloquially known as Jozi, Joburg, or "The City of Gold", is the largest city in South Africa, classified as a megacity, and is one of the 100 largest urban areas in the world. According to Demo ...
on 2 March 1896, aged 19 years and 155 days.
Llewellyn failed to take a wicket in this first Test and was promptly omitted from the remainder of the series but responded by performing impressively in the 1897–98 and 1898–99
Currie Cup
The Currie Cup is South Africa's premier domestic rugby union competition, played each winter and spring (June to October), featuring teams representing either entire provinces or substantial regions within provinces. Although it is the premier ...
s, which led to his recall to the national team for the first Test of the
1898–99 series against England. Llewellyn impressed by taking five wickets but was surprisingly left out of the second Test.
At the end of the 1898–99 series Llewellyn, perturbed by the actions of the selectors and seeking financial security, left South Africa to play for English county side
Hampshire County Cricket Club
Hampshire County Cricket Club is one of eighteen first-class county clubs within the domestic cricket structure of England and Wales. It represents the historic county of Hampshire. Hampshire teams formed by earlier organisations, principal ...
as a professional, on the recommendation of South African teammate Major
Robert Poore
Robert Montagu Poore (20 March 1866 – 14 July 1938) was a cricketer and British army officer who, whilst serving in South Africa in 1896, played in three Test matches for the South African cricket team. Much of his cricket was played when he ...
, an ex-Hampshire cricketer on military assignment.
He would star for Hampshire for over a decade, scoring 8772 runs at 27.58 and snaring 711 wickets at 24.66. His form was such that in 1902 Llewellyn was named in the English First Test squad against the touring
Australians
Australians, colloquially known as Aussies, are the citizens, nationals and individuals associated with the country of Australia. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or ethno-cultural. For most Australians, several (or all) ...
, missing out on the final side. He was however included in a strong English side captained by
Ranjitsinhji
Colonel H. H. Shri Sir Ranjitsinhji Vibhaji II, Jam Saheb of Nawanagar, (10 September 1872 – 2 April 1933), often known as Ranji or K. S. Ranjitsinhji, was the ruler of the Indian princely state of Nawanagar from 1907 to 1933, as Mah ...
to tour America that included
Jessop,
Sammy Woods
Samuel Moses James Woods (13 April 1867 – 30 April 1931) was an Australian sportsman who represented both Australia and England at Test cricket, and appeared thirteen times for England at rugby union, including five times as captain. He also p ...
,
Archie MacLaren
Archibald Campbell MacLaren (1 December 1871 – 17 November 1944) was an English cricketer who captained the English cricket team, England cricket team at various times between 1898 and 1909. A right-handed Batting (cricket), batsman, he ...
,
Stoddart Stoddart is a surname. Notable people with the surname include:
* Alexander "Sandy" Stoddart (born 1959), Scottish sculptor
*Andrew Stoddart (1863–1915), English cricketer and rugby union player
* Cassie Jo Stoddart (1989-2006), American murder v ...
,
Bosanquet and
Townsend Townsend (pronounced tounʹ-zənd) or Townshend may refer to:
Places United States
*Camp Townsend, National Guard training base in Peekskill, New York
*Townsend, Delaware
*Townsend, Georgia
*Townsend, Massachusetts, a New England town
** Townsend ...
.
In 1902–03 Llewellyn returned to South Africa to play in the
three Test series against Australia. He scored 90 in the First Test, his highest Test score, as well as taking nine wickets for the match. Llewellyn took ten wickets in the second Test and six in the third to top the series bowling average at 17.92; a remarkable achievement considering Australia won the series 2–0.
Llewellyn continued to shine for Hampshire, capped by his selection as one of
Wisden's Five Cricketers of the Year
The ''Wisden'' Cricketers of the Year are cricketers selected for the honour by the annual publication ''Wisden Cricketers' Almanack'', based primarily on their "influence on the previous English season". The award began in 1889 with the naming ...
in 1910, his last year at Hampshire. He then toured Australia with the South African team, where his bowling served as fodder for
Victor Trumper
Victor Thomas Trumper (2 November 1877 – 28 June 1915) was an Australian cricketer known as the most stylish and versatile batsman of the Golden Age of cricket, capable of playing match-winning innings on wet wickets his contemporaries found ...
, before returning to England in 1911 to join club side
Accrington
Accrington is a town in the Hyndburn borough of Lancashire, England. It lies about east of Blackburn, west of Burnley, east of Preston, north of Manchester and is situated on the culverted River Hyndburn. Commonly abbreviated by locals to ...
,
thereby becoming the first Test cricketer to play in the
Lancashire League.
In 1912, South Africa brought him out of first-class retirement to play in the
Triangular Tournament, scoring 75 in the first Test against England at Lord's and a further half-century against Australia at Lord's.
Llewellyn retired from Test cricket after the triangular tournament, having played 15 Tests (five against England and ten against Australia), scored 544 runs at 20.14 and 48 wickets at 29.60. He however continued to star in league cricket, finally retiring in 1938 at the age of 62.
Llewellyn broke his thigh in 1960, affecting his movement for the remainder of his life and died in
Chertsey
Chertsey is a town in the Borough of Runnymede, Surrey, England, south-west of central London. It grew up round Chertsey Abbey, founded in 666 CE, and gained a market charter from Henry I. A bridge across the River Thames first appeared in the ...
, Surrey in 1964, aged 87. Even after his death, Llewellyn remained a controversial figure, as Llewellyn's daughter, resident in England, in 1976 publicly contested claims that he was not white, stating that his mother had been an English-born white woman.
Llewellyn's legacy as the first non-white South African Test cricketer remains large. During the
apartheid
Apartheid (, especially South African English: , ; , "aparthood") was a system of institutionalised racial segregation that existed in South Africa and South West Africa (now Namibia) from 1948 to the early 1990s. Apartheid was ...
period he was used to show that non-white cricketers could perform as well as their white counterparts, while modern day commentators have pointed to the erratic selection of Llewellyn for South Africa throughout his career as the result of prejudice due to his skin colour.
While Llewellyn was the first non-white South African Test cricketer, it was not until
Omar Henry
Omar Henry (born 23 January 1952) is a former cricketer who represented South Africa at international level, and also played for Scotland. He played in three Tests and three One Day Internationals for South Africa. He is notable for being the ...
took the field against India in November 1992 that South Africa had its second.
References
* Merret, C. (2004) "Sport and Race in Colonial Natal: C.B. Llewellyn, South Africa’s First Black Test Cricketer", ''The Cricket Statistician'',
Association of Cricket Statisticians and Historians
The Association of Cricket Statisticians and Historians (ACS) was founded in England in 1973 for the purpose of researching and collating information about the history and statistics of cricket. Originally called the Association of Cricket Stati ...
, Winter 2004, No. 128, Nottingham.
External links
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Llewellyn, Charlie
1876 births
1964 deaths
KwaZulu-Natal cricketers
Hampshire cricketers
London County cricketers
South Africa Test cricketers
South African people of Welsh descent
South African people of Saint Helenian descent
Wisden Cricketers of the Year
Players cricketers
Marylebone Cricket Club cricketers
Coloured South African people
Players of the South cricketers
North v South cricketers