Two defeats out of the first three eleven-aside matches was a pretty bad
start for Mr. Warner’s team, a batting collapse against the Transvaal
being followed by a defeat by one wicket in the first so-called Test
Match. One may well ask, “Why Test Match, and of what is the match
supposed to be a test?” If a test of anything it is probably a test of
the judgment, or rather lack of judgment, of those who selected the
M.C.C. team. If the South Africans, who are paying the piper, had called
this tune and asked for a nice easy team to beat, we could better
apprehend the position, but we understand that the South African cricket
authorities took an early opportunity of remonstrating against the
unrepresentative quality of this team sent out under the _ægis_ of the
Marylebone Club. There may be many points of resemblance between the
management of the War Office and the Marylebone Club—at any-rate, they
seem to have been of one mind in consistently and resolutely
under-rating the strength of our opponents in South Africa.
In 1904, when a strong South African team visited this country, they
modestly enough asked that they might be allowed to play just one match
at the headquarters of cricket against a team representative of the
strength of England.
Instead of this, the Marylebone Club put “An England XI.” into the
field, and the South Africans won with great ease a victory to which
they attached but little importance. This slight has been followed by
this unfortunate selection of a team to represent, not the Marylebone
Club, for some of the players have nothing to do with that institution,
but probably the authority and wisdom of the M.C.C.; and for English
cricket and for Mr. P. F. Warner—the Commander-in-chief of this at
present somewhat unfortunate team—we much regret that cricketers more
representative of English cricket should not have been chosen. But still
more do we regret this error of judgment from the point of view of South
African cricket. Here is a colony which has beaten the Australians,
which has beaten most of our counties, and triumphed over “An England
XI.,” at Lord’s, asking for a good England team to come out and teach
her cricketers something more; and then comes this melancholy but
extremely probable downfall of a moderate enough team in no way
representative of English cricket.
No doubt the difficulties in the way of our best amateurs getting away
for a winter’s cricket tour are very great; but if it is impossible to
get a really good side to accept the hospitality of the South Africans,
it would be almost better for the M.C.C. executive to confess their
inability to organise a team than to send out anything second-rate.