An English

cricket Cricket is a bat-and-ball game played between two teams of eleven players on a field at the centre of which is a pitch with a wicket at each end, each comprising two bails balanced on three stumps. The batting side scores runs by striki ...

team, organised and led by the

Surrey Surrey () is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in South East England, bordering Greater London to the south west. Surrey has a large rural area, and several significant urban areas which form part of the Greater London Built-up Area. ...

amateur An amateur () is generally considered a person who pursues an avocation independent from their source of income. Amateurs and their pursuits are also described as popular, informal, autodidacticism, self-taught, user-generated, do it yourself, DI ...

Walter Read Walter William Read (born 23 November 1855 in Reigate, Surrey, died 6 January 1907 in Addiscombe Park, Surrey) was an English cricketer. A fluent right hand bat, he was also an occasional bowler of lobs who sometimes switched to quick overa ...

, toured

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 ...

from December 1891 to March 1892. There is uncertainty about the status of South African cricket as a whole in the late nineteenth century and so Read's matches against the main provincial teams, such as

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, ...

and

Western Province Western Province or West Province may refer to: *Western Province, Cameroon *Western Province, Rwanda *Western Province (Kenya) *Western Province (Papua New Guinea) *Western Province (Solomon Islands) *Western Province, Sri Lanka *Western Provinc ...

, are not rated first-class. The only first-class match on the tour is one in March against a

South African national team South is one of the cardinal directions or compass points. The direction is the opposite of north and is perpendicular to both east and west. Etymology The word ''south'' comes from Old English ''sūþ'', from earlier Proto-Germanic ''*sunþaz' ...

which was retrospectively awarded

Test status 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 f ...

. Read's XI is therefore designated

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 ...

for this match and they won the Test by an innings and 189 runs. The South African Test team was captained by

William Henry Milton Sir William Henry Milton (3 December 1854 – 6 March 1930) was the third Administrator of Mashonaland, played rugby for England and was South Africa's second Test cricket captain. Born in Little Marlow, Buckinghamshire, and educated at Marlbo ...

Test series summary

The match was retrospectively granted

. At the time it was known as a South African XI ''versus'' W. W. Read's XI. South Africa won the toss and batted first. They were soon all out for 97, with John Ferris taking 6 for 54. In reply, an innings of 134 from

Henry Wood Sir Henry Joseph Wood (3 March 186919 August 1944) was an English conductor best known for his association with London's annual series of promenade concerts, known as the Proms. He conducted them for nearly half a century, introducing hund ...

saw Read's side total 369, a lead of 272 that South Africa were never likely to catch. Ferris's 7 for 37 helped dismiss the South Africans for 83 in their second innings. This Test match still holds the record for the highest aggregate of runs (549) without a

leg bye In cricket, a leg bye is a type of extra. It is a run scored by the batting team if the batter has not hit the ball with their bat, but the ball has hit the batter's body or protective gear. It is covered by Law 23 of the Laws of Cricket. Scoring ...

being scored. The game is more interesting for some historical oddities: *

Billy Murdoch William Lloyd Murdoch (18 October 1854 – 18 February 1911) was an Australian cricketer who captained the Australian national side in 16 Test matches between 1880 and 1890. This included four tours of England, one of which, in 1882, gave ri ...

and Ferris, who had both previously played for Australia, played for England due to residence. *

Frank Hearne Frank Hearne (23 November 1858 – 14 July 1949) was an English born cricketer. One of the few men to play Test cricket for more than one country, he played for both England and South Africa. He was a member of the Hearne family of cricketers wh ...

, who played for South Africa in this game, had previously played for England. Finally, the game gives the second instance of three brothers playing in the same Test match, as Frank Hearne's brothers,

Alec Hearne Alec Hearne (22 July 1863 – 16 May 1952) was a member of the famous cricketing Hearne family. He played as a professional for Kent County Cricket Club between 1884 and 1906 and made one Test match appearance for England. He was an all-round ...

and George Hearne played for England. A cousin,

John Thomas Hearne John Thomas Hearne (3 May 1867 – 17 April 1944)
cricinfo.com (known as Jack Hearne, J. T. Hearne or Old Jack Hearne ...

also played for the tourists. *The tour was simultaneous to the

English cricket team in Australia in 1891–92 The England national cricket team toured Australia and Ceylon in 1891–92. The team, captained by W. G. Grace, was organised, financed and managed by Lord Sheffield, who later donated the Sheffield Shield to Australian domestic first-clas ...

, both teams deemed to have "

The tour

There were 20 matches on the tour. Apart from the Test match, all of them were against teams of 15, 18 or 22 players. The English team won 13 matches and drew seven. The leading player was Ferris, who took 235 wickets at an average of 5.46. J. T. Hearne took 163 wickets at 6.84, and Martin took 109 at 8.43. The outstanding batsman was Chatterton, who made 955 runs at an average of 41.52. The next best was Murdoch, with 633 runs at 27.52.''Cricket''
14 April 1892, p. 51.

References

External links

at CricketArchive

at Test Cricket Tours website {{DEFAULTSORT:English cricket team in South Africa in 1891-92 1891 in English cricket 1891 in South African cricket 1892 in English cricket 1892 in South African cricket 1891-92 International cricket competitions from 1888–89 to 1918 South African cricket seasons from 1888–89 to 1917–18