History of cricket in Rhodesia and Zimbabwe to 1992

This article is an introduction to the history of first-class cricket in Zimbabwe, formerly Rhodesia and (before 1965) Southern Rhodesia. The timespan of the article is from the formation of a first-class Rhodesian team in August 1890 until the inaugural Test appearance of Zimbabwe in October 1992.

Until 1965 the name 'Rhodesia' encompassed Northern Rhodesia, now Zambia, but the very small cricket-playing population in that territory means that in this article 'Rhodesian' to 1965 effectively means 'Southern Rhodesian'.

Historical background

The modern history of Zimbabwe starts with treaties and concessions initiated by Cecil Rhodes and the British South Africa Company in 1888/9. The country was the southern part of 'Zambezia' until that name was officially changed to 'Rhodesia' in 1895, and in 1898 the designation 'Southern Rhodesia' was made official. Southern Rhodesia became a self-governing British colony in 1922.

In 1953 Northern and Southern Rhodesia were reunited in the Federation of Rhodesia and Nyasaland, and after its dissolution in 1963, an independence movement in Southern Rhodesia was led by Ian Smith. Southern Rhodesia was renamed Rhodesia in 1965, and a unilateral declaration of independence occurred.

This was declared illegal by Great Britain, and 15 years of controversy and sanctions followed until finally the country gained official independence as Zimbabwe in April 1980.

Rhodesian cricket

In cricket terms, Rhodesia was always tied to South Africa. The first recorded match in Rhodesia took place near Fort Victoria (modern Masvingo) on 16 August 1890, on a wicket of a bare twenty two yards of earth, shortly after Rhodes' Pioneer Column had formed a settlement. In the mid-1890s, the most important match of the Rhodesian domestic cricket season was Salisbury v Bulawayo. The first English representative team, led by Lord Hawke, visited in 1898-99, with the match played on a matting wicket...

First-class cricket was not established in the colony until the Rhodesian team began taking part in South Africa's Currie Cup competition from 1904–05. The initial first-class match was against Transvaal on 15–16 March 1905, at Johannesburg. Rhodesia lost by an innings and 170 runs. After this brief appearance, Rhodesia did not take part in the Currie Cup again until 1929-30. They played also in 1931–32, winning four out of five matches, but losing the cup to Western Province under the points system then in use. The Rhodesian team then did not return to until 1946–47, after which they at last played regularly. In the intervening period, Denis Tomlinson became Rhodesia's first Test cricketer when he was selected to tour England with the South African cricket team in 1935.

The Logan Cup, a weekend contest between the four provinces, Matabeleland (Bulawayo), Mashonaland (Salisbury - Harare), Manicaland (Umtali- Mutare) and Midlands (Gwelo - Gweru) was played on an annual basis later incorporating Northern Rhodesia - Zambia, while in the winter months, with the farmers in fallow, Sunday Country Districts' Cricket abounded. Additionally in the late 1950s and early 1960s, in those winter months, the Stragglers, a team sponsored by Spencer-Parker, made up of a number of Mashonaland players travelled to Blantye for a weekend exercise on a matting wicket against, Nyasaland, now Malawi.

David Lewis was the captain of the Rhodesian team for 10 years, from 1953-54 to 1963-64, and the team included players such as Colin Bland, Chris Duckworth, Godfrey Lawrence, Percy Mansell, Joe Partridge, Tony Pithey, David Pithey, and Paul Winslow. By the 1970s, the team was captained by Mike Procter and included players such as John Traicos, Duncan Fletcher, and Robin Jackman. Despite its strong players, Rhodesia never managed to win the Currie Cup - A case of talent not well harnessed.

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.

Zimbabwe cricket

The only first-class matches in the 1980–81 and 1981–82 seasons involved the Zimbabwean national cricket team against tourists. Zimbabwe became an associate member of the International Cricket Council on 21 July 1981, and played first-class matches on its inaugural tour of England in 1982. Zimbabwe won the 1982 ICC Trophy, and this can be seen as its first step towards Test status. The team competed in the 1983 Cricket World Cup, unexpectedly beating Australia in its first match. Later, the team was weakened when white Zimbabweans left the country to pursue their careers elsewhere, perhaps most notably Graeme Hick.

Zimbabwe was elected to full membership of the ICC in 1992, and played its inaugural Test match versus India at the Harare Sports Club on 18–22 October 1992, under the captaincy of David Houghton. The match was drawn, and thus Zimbabwe became the first team to avoid losing its inaugural Test match since Australia beat England in the very first Test in 1877.

The main domestic competition is the Logan Cup which has a long history. This acquired first-class status from the 1993-94 season.

Zimbabwe cricket has also produced Andy Flower, whose test batting average was over 80 in both 2000 and 2001.

International tours of Rhodesia and Zimbabwe to 1992

International XI 1961-62

This was the first tour by an international team of southern Africa that was confined to Rhodesia. The International XI visited the country in February–March 1962 and played matches in Kitwe, Bulawayo, and Salisbury (Harare).

Commonwealth XI 1962-63

A Commonwealth XI cricket team toured Rhodesia in the 1962-63 season, playing two first-class matches against teams representative of Rhodesia, in Kitwe and Salisbury (Harare). Captained by Willie Watson, the Commonwealth XI included several famous or well-known players such as Basil D'Oliveira, Rohan Kanhai, Roy Swetman, Chandu Borde, Roy Marshall, Bill Alley, Trevor Goddard and Peter Loader.

Kenya 1980-81

Sri Lanka 1982-83

Ireland 1985-86

Ireland 1990-91

External sources

• History from Zimbabwe Cricket

Further reading

• Cricket: History of its Growth and Development by Rowland Bowen
• Wisden Cricketers' Almanack 2006