Arthur Edward Ochse (11 March 1870 – 11 April 1918), played
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 ...
in the first matches played by
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 ...
in 1888–89.
Life and career
A middle-order batsman, Ochse, like the rest of the South African team, made his
first-class debut in his country's first
Test
Test(s), testing, or TEST may refer to:
* Test (assessment), an educational assessment intended to measure the respondents' knowledge or other abilities
Arts and entertainment
* ''Test'' (2013 film), an American film
* ''Test'' (2014 film), ...
match, which was played 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
Port Elizabeth
Gqeberha (), formerly Port Elizabeth and colloquially often referred to as P.E., is a major seaport and the most populous city in the Eastern Cape province of South Africa. It is the seat of the Nelson Mandela Bay Metropolitan Municipality, Sou ...
. At 19 years and 1 day old, he was South Africa's youngest Test debutant (a record since surpassed) and he retained his place for the second Test played two weeks later. But like so many of his teammates, his inexperience against such good opposition showed. In four innings against Major Warton's team, Ochse scored just 16 runs as England ran out comprehensive winners in South Africa's first two representative matches played on level terms. During the second
innings
An innings is one of the divisions of a cricket match during which one team takes its turn to bat. Innings also means the period in which an individual player bats (acts as either striker or nonstriker). Innings, in cricket, and rounders, is bot ...
of the second Test, played at Cape Town, Ochse was bowled by England's
slow left arm
Left-arm orthodox spin, Left-arm off spin also known as slow left-arm orthodox spin bowling, is a type of left-arm finger spin bowling in the sport of cricket.
Left-arm orthodox spin is bowled by a left-arm bowler using the fingers to spin ...
spinner,
Johnny Briggs, one of Briggs' eight victims in a then Test record of eight wickets for 11 runs in an innings (and 15 for 28 in a match).
Domestically, Ochse played for
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, ...
, once in 1891 and twice more in 1895. In the match against
Kimberley
Kimberly or Kimberley may refer to:
Places and historical events
Australia
* Kimberley (Western Australia)
** Roman Catholic Diocese of Kimberley
* Kimberley Warm Springs, Tasmania
* Kimberley, Tasmania a small town
* County of Kimberley, a ...
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 ...
in the
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 ...
season of 1890/91, he was unlucky to miss out on a maiden century when, in the second innings, he fell one run short. He also scored 45 in Transvaal's first innings and took two wickets in the match.
Ochse served in the
South African Infantry during
World War I
World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...
. He was killed in action at
Messines Ridge
The Battle of Messines (7–14 June 1917) was an attack by the British Second Army (General Sir Herbert Plumer), on the Western Front, near the village of Messines (now Mesen) in West Flanders, Belgium, during the First World War. The Nivell ...
on the
Western Front Western Front or West Front may refer to:
Military frontiers
*Western Front (World War I), a military frontier to the west of Germany
*Western Front (World War II), a military frontier to the west of Germany
*Western Front (Russian Empire), a majo ...
during Germany's 1918
Spring Offensive.
["Supplementary Obituaries", '']Wisden
''Wisden Cricketers' Almanack'', or simply ''Wisden'', colloquially the Bible of Cricket, is a cricket reference book published annually in the United Kingdom. The description "bible of cricket" was first used in the 1930s by Alec Waugh in a ...
'' 2015, pp. 229–50.
See also
*
Arthur Lennox Ochse
Arthur Lennox Ochse (11 October 1899 in Graaff-Reinet, Cape Colony – 5 May 1949 in Middelburg, Cape Province) was a South African cricketer who played in three Tests in 1927–28 and 1929.
Cricket career
Ochse was a lower-order right-handed ...
References
External links
*
*
Sources
* ''World Cricketers – A Biographical Dictionary'' by Christopher Martin-Jenkins published by Oxford University Press (1996)
* ''The Wisden Book of Test Cricket, Volume 1 (1877–1977)'' compiled and edited by Bill Frindall published by Headline Book Publishing (1995)
{{DEFAULTSORT:Ochse, Arthur
1870 births
1918 deaths
People from Graaff-Reinet
South Africa Test cricketers
South African cricketers
Gauteng cricketers
South African military personnel killed in World War I
Cricketers from the Eastern Cape