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The South African cricket team toured England in the 1947 season to play a five-match Test series against England. The team was captained by Alan Melville with Dudley Nourse as his vice-captain (v/c). England won the series with three wins and two matches drawn. This was the second Test series hosted by England since the end of World War II in 1945. South Africa's previous visit to England was their successful 1935 tour.

Background

1947 was a year in which the weather frequently made headlines in Great Britain. After one of the coldest winters on record, the summer was uncharacteristically warm and sunny. In terms of cricket, what the new Playfair Cricket Annual called a "glorious summer" contrasted sharply with the wet summer of 1946. The country was still recovering from the war with austerity and rationing a fact of daily life, but sporting events were eagerly awaited and drew large attendances.

South African squad

South Africa brought a 17-man squad captained by Alan Melville. Squad details below state the player's age at the beginning of the tour, his batting hand, his type of bowling, and his provincial Currie Cup team at the time:

England selections

England chose a total of 21 players to represent them in the series. Five players took part in all five Test matches: captain Norman Yardley; batsmen Len Hutton, Cyril Washbrook and Denis Compton; and wicket-keeper Godfrey Evans.

Test series summary

First Test

South Africa	v	England
533 (196.3 overs) A. Melville 189, A. D. Nourse 149 W. E. Hollies 5/123 (55.2 overs)		208 (113.1 overs) D. C. S. Compton 65 L. T. D. Tuckett 5/68 (37 overs)
166/1 (51 overs) A. Melville 104* A. V. Bedser 1/31 (14 overs)		551 (f/o) (226.2 overs) D. C. S. Compton 163 V. I. Smith 4/143 (51 overs)

• South Africa won the toss and elected to bat
• 8 June was taken as a rest day
• O. C. Dawson, T. A. Harris, A. M. B. Rowan, L. T. D. Tuckett, N. B. F. Mann, J. D. Lindsay and V. I. Smith (all SA), and H. E. Dollery, C. Cook and J. W. Martin (all ENG) made their Test debuts

Second Test

England	v	South Africa
554/8d (215 overs) D. C. S. Compton 208, W. J. Edrich 189 L. T. D. Tuckett 5/115 (47 overs)		327 (142.2 overs) A. Melville 117 D. V. P. Wright 5/95 (39 overs)
26/0 (12.1 overs) L. Hutton 13* C. Washbrook 13*		252 (f/o) (127.2 overs) B. Mitchell 80 D. V. P. Wright 5/80 (32.2 overs)

• England won the toss and elected to bat
• 22 June was taken as a rest day
• G. H. Pope (ENG) made his Test debut

Third Test

South Africa	v	England
339 (166.1 overs) K. G. Viljoen 93 W. J. Edrich 4/95 (35.1 overs)		478 (151.3 overs) W. J. Edrich 191, D. C. S. Compton 115 L. T. D. Tuckett 4/148 (50 overs)
267 (84.4 overs) A. D. Nourse 115 W. J. Edrich 4/77 (22.4 overs)		130/3 (36.5 overs) C. Washbrook 40 N. B. F. Mann 2/19 (14 overs)

• South Africa won the toss and elected to bat
• 6 July was taken as a rest day
• D. V. Dyer and J. B. Plimsoll (both SA), and K. Cranston and C. Gladwin (both ENG) made their Test debuts

Fourth Test

South Africa	v	England
175 (97.1 overs) B. Mitchell 53 H. J. Butler 4/34 (28 overs)		317/7d (154 overs) L. Hutton 100 N. B. F. Mann 4/68 (50 overs)
184 (80 overs) A. D. Nourse 57 K. Cranston 4/12 (7 overs)		47/0 (15.4 overs) L. Hutton 32*

• South Africa won the toss and elected to bat.
• 27 July was taken as a rest day; the match was scheduled for four days but completed in three
• G. M. Fullerton (SA), and J. A. Young and H. J. Butler (both ENG) made their Test debuts;
  K. Cranston ended the South African second innings with four wickets in six balls (W.W.WW)

Fifth Test

England	v	South Africa
427 (190 overs) L. Hutton 83 N. B. F. Mann 4/93 (64 overs)		302 (131 overs) B. Mitchell 120 W. H. Copson 3/46 (27 overs)
325/6d (77 overs) D. C. S. Compton 113 A. M. B. Rowan 3/95 (25 overs)		423/7 (141 overs) B. Mitchell 189* R. Howorth 3/85 (37 overs)

• England won the toss and elected to bat
• 17 August was taken as a rest day
• J. D. B. Robertson and R. Howorth (both ENG) made their Test debuts

References

1. Met Office. "The winter of 1946/47". Archived from the original on 10 December 2009. Retrieved 10 March 2018.
2. Playfair, p. 8.
3. "Wisden Almanack – 1948". ESPNcricinfo. Retrieved 10 March 2018.
4. "Alan Melville". CricketArchive. Retrieved 10 March 2018.
5. "Dudley Nourse". CricketArchive. Retrieved 17 March 2018.
6. "Denis Begbie". CricketArchive. Retrieved 17 March 2018.
7. "Dennis Dyer". CricketArchive. Retrieved 17 March 2018.
8. "Tony Harris". CricketArchive. Retrieved 17 March 2018.
9. "Ken Viljoen". CricketArchive. Retrieved 17 March 2018.
10. "Ossie Dawson". CricketArchive. Retrieved 17 March 2018.
11. "Bruce Mitchell". CricketArchive. Retrieved 17 March 2018.
12. "George Fullerton". CricketArchive. Retrieved 17 March 2018.
13. "Johnny Lindsay". CricketArchive. Retrieved 17 March 2018.
14. "Douglas Ovenstone". CricketArchive. Retrieved 17 March 2018.
15. "Tufty Mann". CricketArchive. Retrieved 17 March 2018.
16. "Leslie Payn". CricketArchive. Retrieved 17 March 2018.
17. "Jack Plimsoll". CricketArchive. Retrieved 17 March 2018.
18. "Athol Rowan". CricketArchive. Retrieved 17 March 2018.
19. "Ian Smith". CricketArchive. Retrieved 17 March 2018.
20. "Lindsay Tuckett". CricketArchive. Retrieved 17 March 2018.

Bibliography

• Playfair. West, Peter (ed.). Playfair Cricket Annual (1st edition) (1948 ed.). London: Playfair Books Ltd.
• Wisden. Preston, Hubert (ed.). Wisden Cricketers' Almanack, 85th edition (1948 ed.). London: John Wisden & Co. Ltd.

Further reading

• Louis Duffus, South African Cricket, Volume 3, 1927-1947, The South African Cricket Association, 1948
• Wisden Almanack 1948
• Various writers, A Century of South Africa in Test & International Cricket 1889-1989, Ball, 1989

External links

• CricketArchive – tour summaries
• Short British Pathe newsreel of the team arriving in England and signing autographs

• 1947 in English cricket
• 1947 in South African cricket
• South African cricket tours of England
• International cricket competitions from 1945–46 to 1960
• June 1947 sports events in the United Kingdom
• July 1947 sports events in the United Kingdom
• August 1947 sports events in the United Kingdom