South Africa in the 1912 Triangular Tournament were a catastrophe. Captained by the English-born Frank Mitchell, they lost all three of their Tests against England — by an innings, by 174 runs and by 10 wickets — and one of two against Australia. The performances confirmed that the googly era was over.
South Africa's 1907 tour of England had been a near-success on the back of the googly attack. Five years on the bowling unit had broken up.
The tour was Mitchell's first major captaincy. His selection itself was contested — he was English by birth and had played for England at rugby.
South Africa came to the 1912 Triangular as the third force in Test cricket, with the googly attack of Schwarz, Faulkner and Vogler still expected to do damage. The reality was different. Vogler was past his best; Schwarz was now London-based and out of practice; Faulkner was the only world-class bowler in the side and was constantly overworked. Mitchell, an England rugby international who had played a couple of Tests for South Africa years earlier, had been called out of semi-retirement to captain the tour. The batting was thin behind Faulkner and Herbie Taylor. England won the three Tests by an innings and 62 runs at Lord's, by 174 runs at Manchester (a heavily rain-affected match) and by 10 wickets at the Oval. Australia, even depleted by the Big Six absences, beat South Africa twice. South Africa won no matches in the tournament. The performances reinforced a pattern that would persist until the 1930s: South Africa as the regular makeweight in Test cricket.
Lord's: England win by innings and 62 runs
Manchester: England win by 174 runs
Oval: England win by 10 wickets
Australia beat SA twice as well
May 1912
South Africa arrive in England
Jun 1912
Lord's Test: lost by an innings
Jul 1912
Manchester: lost by 174 runs
Aug 1912
Oval: lost by 10 wickets
“The South Africans were not a Test team; they were a county side abroad.”
South Africa returned home without a win. The tour was a financial as well as sporting disaster for the South African board.
A tournament that confirmed South African cricket as the weakest of the three Test nations and helped doom the Triangular concept.
The 1912 South African showing is a fixture in arguments about Test cricket's expansion. It crystallised the view in Lord's that South Africa was not a serious third force, a view that persisted for two decades.
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