Bernard Tancred — First Man to Carry His Bat in a Test, 1889

Tancred was born in Pietermaritzburg in 1865 and was already the leading colonial batsman in South Africa by the time Warton's tour arrived. He played for the Eastern Province and was an obvious selection for both the matches retrospectively rated as Tests.

Briggs had taken 7 for 17 in South Africa's first innings on the Newlands matting; the home side's collapse for 47 had set a Test-low total. The second innings began with England leading by 245, the match effectively over, and Tancred and his partner facing only the question of how soon Briggs would clean them up.

The Cape Town Test of March 1889, the second of two on Major Warton's tour, was a one-sided affair. England had already won the Port Elizabeth Test by eight wickets and arrived at Newlands in dominant form. South Africa, batting first, were dismissed for 47 — Briggs taking 7 for 17 with his slow left-arm — and followed on at 245 behind.

In the second innings Briggs was even better. He took 8 for 11 from 14.2 overs as the South African batsmen, on a wearing matting pitch, simply could not pick his variations. The innings closed at 43 all out — South Africa's combined match total of 90 remains one of the lowest in Test cricket — but Bernard Tancred, opening the innings, played each ball on its merit and was 26 not out at the end.

This was the first instance in Test cricket of a batsman 'carrying his bat' — that is, opening the innings and remaining unbeaten as all ten partners are dismissed. The 26 not out is the lowest score by which any batsman has done it in Test history. Briggs's 15 for 28 in the match (7/17 and 8/11) was at the time the best match figures in Test cricket.

Tancred had been the leading South African run-scorer of the series with 87 runs in three innings. His brothers Louis and Vincent both went on to play Test cricket for South Africa, making the Tancreds the first family to provide three Test cricketers to South Africa. Bernard played only two Tests himself, both in 1888-89, then continued in colonial cricket; in 1889-90 he scored the first century in Currie Cup history (106 for Kimberley v Transvaal).

“Bernard Tancred was the best batsman in the first South African side and showed it in the most discouraging circumstances.”

Tancred played one further first-class season, then captained Eastern Province and was a leading figure in early Currie Cup cricket. His 106 for Kimberley in 1889-90 was the first Currie Cup century. He died in Johannesburg in 1911 aged 46.