The Rhodesia cricket team played

first-class cricket First-class cricket, along with List A cricket and Twenty20 cricket, is one of the highest-standard forms of cricket. A first-class match is one of three or more days' scheduled duration between two sides of eleven players each and is officiall ...

and represented originally the British colony of

Southern Rhodesia Southern Rhodesia was a landlocked self-governing British Crown colony in southern Africa, established in 1923 and consisting of British South Africa Company (BSAC) territories lying south of the Zambezi River. The region was informally kn ...

and later the unilaterally independent state of

Rhodesia Rhodesia (, ), officially from 1970 the Republic of Rhodesia, was an unrecognised state in Southern Africa from 1965 to 1979, equivalent in territory to modern Zimbabwe. Rhodesia was the ''de facto'' successor state to the British colony of S ...

which became

Zimbabwe Zimbabwe (), officially the Republic of Zimbabwe, is a landlocked country located in Southeast Africa, between the Zambezi and Limpopo Rivers, bordered by South Africa to the south, Botswana to the south-west, Zambia to the north, and Mozam ...

. In 1980 the Rhodesia cricket team was renamed as the Zimbabwe-Rhodesia cricket team, and in 1981 it adopted its current name of the

Zimbabwe national cricket team The Zimbabwe national cricket team, also known as the Chevrons, represents Zimbabwe in men's international cricket and is overseen by Zimbabwe Cricket (formerly known as the Zimbabwe Cricket Union). Zimbabwe has been a Full Member of the Intern ...

Honours

* Currie Cup (0) – * Gillette/Nissan Cup (1) – 1977–78

Club history

The Rhodesian Cricket Union was formed in 1898 as the governing body of the game in the colony. Rhodesia competed in South Africa's

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 ...

championship from 1905, but its appearances were sporadic at first. Having lost their inaugural match to

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, ...

by an innings and 170 runs, Rhodesia did not play in the Currie Cup again until 1929–30. They also played in 1931–32, winning four out of five matches, but losing the cup to

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 Provin ...

under the points system then in use. The Rhodesian team then did not return until 1946–47, after which they at last played regularly. The Rhodesian team toured other areas of Africa. In 1951 they toured their northern neighbours

East Africa East Africa, Eastern Africa, or East of Africa, is the eastern subregion of the African continent. In the United Nations Statistics Division scheme of geographic regions, 10-11-(16*) territories make up Eastern Africa: Due to the historical ...

. Rhodesia was visited by a

New Zealand New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island count ...

team at the start of their tour of South Africa in October 1961. They played two three day first-class games against Rhodesia, the first in Bulawayo and the second in Sailsbury. Both matches ended in draws. A total of 242 cricketers represented Rhodesia with noted Rhodesian players including Denis Tomlinson, Chris Duckworth,

Tony Pithey Anthony John Pithey (17 July 1933 – 17 November 2006) was a Rhodesian cricketer who played in seventeen Test matches for South Africa between 1957 and 1965. He also made 65 appearances for Rhodesia, captaining them 34 times.Jonty Winch, ''Cri ...

David Pithey David Bartlett Pithey (4 October 1936 – 21 January 2018) was a Rhodesian cricketer who played in eight Tests for South Africa from 1963 to 1967. As well as playing for Rhodesia and Western Province, he played first-class cricket for Oxford U ...

, Jackie du Preez,

Joe Partridge Joseph Titus Partridge (9 December 1932 – 6 June 1988) was a Rhodesian cricketer who played in 11 Test matches for South Africa between 1963 and 1965. He formed a potent new-ball partnership with Peter Pollock on the 1963–64 tour of Aust ...

, Godfrey Lawrence and

Colin Bland Kenneth Colin Bland (5 April 1938 – 14 April 2018) was a Rhodesian cricketer who played in 21 Test matches for South Africa in the 1960s. He is regarded as one of the greatest fielders in the history of Test cricket. Cricket career Colin ...

. These were the only Rhodesian born cricketers to represent South Africa, together with

Shropshire Shropshire (; alternatively Salop; abbreviated in print only as Shrops; demonym Salopian ) is a landlocked historic county in the West Midlands region of England. It is bordered by Wales to the west and the English counties of Cheshire to th ...

-born Percy Mansell and the South Africans Paul Winslow,

Mike Procter Michael John Procter (born 15 September 1946) is a South African former cricketer. A fast bowler and hard hitting batsman, he proved himself a colossal competitor in English first class cricket. He was denied the international stage by South Af ...

, Peter Carlstein and Egyptian-born

John Traicos Athanasios John Traicos (born 17 May 1947) is a former cricketer who represented South Africa and Zimbabwe at international level. He was primarily an off spin bowler, and is one of a small number of cricketers to have played at the highest lev ...

but the team never won the Currie Cup. The team played in 1979–80 as "Zimbabwe-Rhodesia" and left the competition for good at the close of that season, after Zimbabwe officially became independent. Rhodesian players were eligible to represent

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 ...

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 ...

until the country became

Venues

Rhodesian venues included: *

Queens Sports Club Queens Sports Club Ground is a stadium in Bulawayo, Zimbabwe. It is used primarily used for cricket matches. The stadium has a capacity of up to 13,000. The stadium is the home ground for the Matabeleland Tuskers, who are the current Logan Cu ...

Bulawayo Bulawayo (, ; Ndebele: ''Bulawayo'') is the second largest city in Zimbabwe, and the largest city in the country's Matabeleland region. The city's population is disputed; the 2022 census listed it at 665,940, while the Bulawayo City Council cl ...

(March 1910 – present): * Salisbury Sports Club (March 1910 – present): Mashonaland venue since 1954 * Raylton Club, Bulawayo (occasional venue Dec 1924 – Feb. 1955) * Old Hararians A Field, Salisbury (used once in March 1950) * Bulawayo Athletic Club (used once in Nov 1951): a Matabeleland venue since 1994 * Police A Ground, Salisbury (Oct 1957 – Dec 1968) * Police B Ground, Salisbury (Nov 1969 – Jan 1980)

Notes

References

* * ''South African Cricket Annual'' – various editions * ''Wisden Cricketers' Almanack'' – various editions {{Cricket in South Africa South African first-class cricket teams Former Zimbabwean first-class cricket teams National cricket teams Rhodesian cricket from 1890–91 to 1979–80