English cricket team in South Africa in 1930–31

England in South Africa in 1930–31
England in South Africa in 1930–31
	England
Dates	8 November 1930 – 10 March 1931
Captains	APF Chapman
Test series
Result	South Africa won the 5-match series 1–0
Most runs	WR Hammond 517
Most wickets	W Voce 23

The England cricket team toured South Africa during the 1930–31 season, playing five Test matches against the South Africa national team and 15 tour matches (11 first-class under the banner of the Marylebone Cricket Club against local sides. The tour began on 8 November 1930 with a match against Western Province and ended on 10 March 1931 at the conclusion of another match against the same side. The five Tests were played between 24 December 1930 and 25 February 1931. The Test series was won 1–0 by South Africa, who won the first Test, with the remaining four being drawn.

Test series

1st Test

24–27 December 1930
Scorecard

South Africa	v	England
126 (52.2 overs) Q McMillan 45* IAR Peebles 4/43 (14 overs)		193 (68.1 overs) WR Hammond 49 EP Nupen 5/63 (26.1 overs)
306 (95.2 overs) B Mitchell 72 W Voce 4/59 (27.2 overs)		211 (67.3 overs) WR Hammond 63 EP Nupen 6/87 (25.3 overs)

South Africa won by 28 runs
Old Wanderers, Johannesburg
Umpires: WT Ryan and GB Treadwell

England won the toss and elected to field.
SH Curnow, KG Viljoen, XC Balaskas and ES Newson (SA) made their test debuts.

2nd Test

1–5 January 1931
Scorecard

South Africa	v	England
513/8d (192 overs) IJ Siedle 141 MW Tate 3/79 (43 overs)		350 (120.4 overs) EH Hendren 93 AJ Bell 3/53 (27 overs)
		252 (f/o) (124 overs) EH Hendren 86 RH Catterall 3/15 (12 overs)

Match drawn
Newlands, Cape Town
Umpires: JC Collings and WT Ryan

South Africa won the toss and elected to bat.
This was the first Test in South Africa to be played on a turf pitch; all 40 previous Test matches in the country had been played on matting, as were the following two games in this series.^[1]

3rd Test

16–20 January 1928
Scorecard

South Africa	v	England
177 (97.2 overs) HB Cameron 41 W Voce 5/58 (29.2 overs)		223/1d (82 overs) WR Hammond 136* CL Vincent 1/66 (25 overs)
145/8 (70 overs) HW Taylor 64* JC White 3/33 (18 overs)

Match drawn
Kingsmead, Durban
Umpires: JC Collings and AC King

South Africa won the toss and elected to bat.
For the first time, eleven different counties were represented in England's team^[2]

4th Test

13–17 February 1931
Scorecard

England	v	South Africa
442 (141.4 overs) M Leyland 91 AE Hall 4/105 (37 overs)		295 (137.5 overs) HW Taylor 72 IAR Peebles 6/63 (38.5 overs)
169/9d (51.1 overs) M Leyland 46 EP Nupen 6/46 (16.1 overs)		280/7 (96 overs) B Mitchell 74 W Voce 4/87 (32 overs)

Match drawn
Old Wanderers, Johannesburg
Umpires: JC Collings and AC King

England won the toss and elected to bat.

5th Test

21–25 February 1931
Scorecard

South Africa	v	England
252 (130.4 overs) B Mitchell 73 IAR Peebles 4/67 (27.4 overs)		230 (101.2 overs) MW Tate 50 CL Vincent 6/51 (31.2 overs)
219/7d (82 overs) HB Cameron 41* IAR Peebles 3/71 (25 overs)		72/4 (14.1 overs) WR Hammond 28 IJ Siedle 1/7 (3.1 overs)

Match drawn
Kingsmead, Durban
Umpires: JC Collings and AC King

England won the toss and elected to field.
JAK Cochran (SA) made his Test debut.
The start of the match was delayed by 20 minutes because the correct size bails were unavailable and the umpires had to make two sets.^[3]

References

^ Frindall, Bill (2000). The Wisden Book Of Test Cricket: Volume 1 1877-1970. London: Headline Book Publishing. p. 207. ISBN 0747272735.
^ Frindall, Bill (2000). The Wisden Book Of Test Cricket: Volume 1 1877-1970. London: Headline Book Publishing. p. 208. ISBN 0747272735.
^ Frindall, Bill (2000). The Wisden Book Of Test Cricket: Volume 1 1877-1970. London: Headline Book Publishing. p. 210. ISBN 0747272735.