Eastern Province cricket team in 1971–72

"See also: 1971-72 South African cricket season"

Natal v Eastern Province (5-8 November)

"Natal (8pts) drew with Eastern Province (2pts)"

Natal won the toss in Durban and chose to bat first. Scoring was slow and it took them 94.3 overs to reach 260 for 5 declared, with Barry Richards making 63 and Arthur Short 88. Vintcent van der Bijl then took 5 for 34 as East Province were dismissed for only 152. A much faster 202 with Richards, who was being sponsored by a local dairy company at 2 rand a run, making 104 left the visitors with 311 to win. They finished on 246 for 5 with Anthony Biggs's undefeated 105 and Graeme Pollock's 92 saving the game for the Province. [http://www.cricketarchive.co.uk/Archive/Scorecards/f/28/f28683.html Scorecard]

Rhodesia v Eastern Province (13-15 November)

"Eastern Province (5pts) drew with Rhodesia (4pts)"

After the controversy surrounding Ray Gripper's decision to field on winning the toss in the last match, it was unsurprising that the Rhodesian captain chose to bat first when he won the toss at the Queens Sports Club in Bulawayo. However, Rhodesia fared badly, posting only 166 all out in 72 overs and 270 minutes. After plummeting to 22 for 5 and to 55 for 6 at close on the first day, Eastern Province recovered to 165 for 9 declared. Surprisingly, two batting collapses on a good tracking for batting. However, rain, which caused 4 and a half of the 7 hours of scheduled play to be lost made a draw almost inevitable. Mike Procter's 84 and Brian Davison's 74 saw Rhodesia to 269 for 5 declared - thereby setting a victory target of 271. In their 38 overs, Eastern progressed to 152 for 5, buoyed by 100 from Anthony Biggs and the game petered out into a draw. [http://cricketarchive.com/Archive/Scorecards/32/32060.html Scorecard]

Eastern Province v Orange Free State (4 December)

"Eastern Province beat Orange Free State by 174 runs to progress to the Semi-Finals of the Gillette Cup"

Eastern Province comfortably secured the fourth berth in the semi-finals at St George's Park, Port Elizabeth. Batting first, Eastern Province made 312 for 9 in their 60 overs, with Graeme Pollock top scoring on 111. Orange Free State were never in it. The other Pollock brother, Pollock took 3 for 31 in his 12 overs as Orange Free State could only make 138 for 7 in reply. [http://cricketarchive.com/Archive/Scorecards/32/32075.html Scorecard]

Eastern Province v Transvaal (10-13 December)

"Eastern Province (7pts) drew with Transvaal (6pts)"

Transvaal won the toss at St George's Park, Port Elizabeth and chose to bat on a fast grassy wicket. They performed poorly, though, and were all out for 209 in 73.1 overs. Only Lee Irvine with 70 put up much resistance. Eastern Province matched that with 202 for 9 off 60.4 overs, with Donald Mackay-Coghill taking 4 for 62 and Graeme Pollock top-scoring with 49. Transvaal's second innings saw them recover from 148 for 8 to post yet another score in the low 200s, this time 216, with Ali Bacher making 80 and Keith Reid taking 4 for 34. This set Eastern Province a target of 224 in 280 minutes. They got close. After reaching 77 for 1 they lost wickets regularly, and they finished on 200 for 7 after 83 overs to secure a draw in a game that could have gone any of four ways. [http://cricketarchive.com/Archive/Scorecards/32/32083.html Scorecard]

Eastern Province v Rhodesia (27-29 December)

"Eastern Province (9pts) drew with Rhodesia (3pts)"

Rhodesia won the toss and elected to field at St George's Park, Port Elizabeth only to watch Graeme Pollock take the bull by the horns by scoring 129 and help Eastern Province to 281 for 6 declared off 94 overs. In reply, Rhosdesia could only muster 196, conceding a lead of 85. The Province rushed along to 223 for 6 declared, thereby setting a target of 309. Rhodesia's captain, Ray Gripper, anchored the last innings. His 116 not out in 302 minutes secured the draw, as with no-one else able to give him support, the visitors just kept Eastern Province at bay, finishing on 205 for 7. After the match there was a bit of controversy as Gripper had refused to allow substitutes for the two Pollock brothers for the last half an hour of the match, leaving Eastern Province having to make do with nine fielders. Just before 5.30pm Gripper and Graeme Pollock had agreed to call it a draw after two more overs, but when another wicket fell, Pollock asked for the last half hour to be played. The Pollock brothers had to leave at 5.45pm to catch a flight to connect them with a flight to Australia to play in the World XI tour there. [http://cricketarchive.com/Archive/Scorecards/32/32107.html Scorecard]