Eric Londesbrough Dalton (2 December 1906 – 3 June 1981) was a South African

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 str ...

er who played in 15 Test matches from 1929 to 1938–39. He was born and died in

Durban Durban ( ) ( zu, eThekwini, from meaning 'the port' also called zu, eZibubulungwini for the mountain range that terminates in the area), nicknamed ''Durbs'',Ishani ChettyCity nicknames in SA and across the worldArticle on ''news24.com'' from ...

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 ( ...

. In a match against

Tasmania ) , nickname = , image_map = Tasmania in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of Tasmania in AustraliaCoordinates: , subdivision_type = Country , subdi ...

during the 1931–32 South African tour of Australia, Dalton had his jaw broken by a bouncer from Laurie Nash, who was on a hat-trick at the time. In 1935, Dalton was a member of the South African team that won a Test match in England for the first time. During the match at Lord's, although not especially noted for his bowling, he took the key wickets of

Wally Hammond Walter Reginald Hammond (19 June 1903 – 1 July 1965) was an English first-class cricketer who played for Gloucestershire in a career that lasted from 1920 to 1951. Beginning as a professional, he later became an amateur and was appointed cap ...

and captain

Bob Wyatt Robert Elliott Storey Wyatt (2 May 1901 – 20 April 1995) was an English cricketer who played for Warwickshire, Worcestershire and England in a career lasting nearly thirty years from 1923 to 1951. He was born at Milford Heath House in Surrey ...

in England's first innings to return figures of 2 for 33. In the final Test at

The Oval The Oval, currently known for sponsorship reasons as the Kia Oval, is an international cricket ground in Kennington, located in the borough of Lambeth, in south London. The Oval has been the home ground of Surrey County Cricket Club since ...

, he scored 117 runs in the first innings, his highest Test score, and 57 not out in the second as the match was drawn, The result gave South Africa their first Test series victory in England. After his cricket career ended he concentrated on golf. He won the South African Amateur Championship in 1950 and represented South Africa in the first

Commonwealth Tournament The Commonwealth Tournament was a men's team golf tournament between teams of amateurs golfers from Great Britain, Australia, Canada, New Zealand and South Africa. It was played roughly every four years, in 1954, 1959, 1963, 1967, 1971 and 1975. I ...

at St Andrew's in 1954. He was also adept at several other sports, including bowls,

tennis Tennis is a racket sport that is played either individually against a single opponent ( singles) or between two teams of two players each ( doubles). Each player uses a tennis racket that is strung with cord to strike a hollow rubber ball ...

and

table tennis Table tennis, also known as ping-pong and whiff-whaff, is a sport in which two or four players hit a lightweight ball, also known as the ping-pong ball, back and forth across a table using small solid rackets. It takes place on a hard table div ...

, and had a keen interest in music, playing the

piano The piano is a stringed keyboard instrument in which the strings are struck by wooden hammers that are coated with a softer material (modern hammers are covered with dense wool felt; some early pianos used leather). It is played using a keybo ...

and singing baritone.

References

1906 births 1981 deaths KwaZulu-Natal cricketers South Africa Test cricketers South African male golfers Amateur golfers South African cricketers {{SouthAfrica-cricket-bio-1900s-stub