English national cricket team in South Africa in the 1938/39 season

The tour of the English national cricket team to South Africa in the 1938/39 season took place from December 24, 1938 to March 14, 1939. The international cricket tour was part of the 1938/39 international cricket season and comprised five tests . England won the series 1–0.

prehistory

It was the first tour of the season for both teams. The last meeting of the two teams on a tour took place in England in the 1935 season .

Stages

Durban (SSK) Johannesburg Cape Town

Tour venues

The following stages have been designated as the venue for the tour.

Stadion	city	capacity	Games
Sahara Stadium Kingsmead	Durban	25,000	3rd & 5th test
Wanderers Stadium	Johannesburg	34,000	1st & 4th test
Newlands Cricket Ground	Cape Town	25,000	2nd test

Squad lists

The teams named the following squads.

test
South Africa	England
Xen Balaskas Gerald Bond Dooley Briscoe Eric Dalton Eric Davies Norman Gordon Ronnie Grieveson Chud Langton Alan Melville Bruce Mitchell Bob Newson Dudley Nourse Eric Rowan Ken Viljoen Billy Wade Pieter van der Bijl	Les Ames John Edrich Ken Farnes Paul Gibb Tom Goddard Wally Hammond Richard Hutton Eddie Paynter Reg Perks Bryan Valentine Hedley Verity Len Wilkinson Doug Wright Norman Yardley

Testing

First test in Johannesburg

December 24-28 Scorecard	Johannesburg	England 422 (113.4) & 291-4d (61.5)	-	South Africa 390 (135.1) & 108-1 (51)
		draw

Second test in Cape Town

December 31st - January 4th scorecard	Cape Town	England 559-9d (130.7)	-	South Africa 286 (118.6) & 201-2 (53) (f / o)
		draw

Third test in Durban

January 20-23 Scorecard	Durban	England 469-4d (88.5)	-	South Africa 103 (45.5) & 353 (114.2) (f / o)
		England won with one innings and 13 runs

Fourth test in Johannesburg

February 18-22 Scorecard	Johannesburg	England 215 (64.2) & 203-4 (60)	-	South Africa 349-8d (101.5)
		draw

Fifth test in Durban

March 3-14 Scorecard	Durban	South Africa 530 (202.6) & 481 (142.1)	-	England 316 (117.6) & 654-5 (218.2)
		Draw (by agreement)

This was the last timeless test, i.e. the test that was carried out without a time limit. The teams agreed on a draw after the tenth match day, as England had to leave in order not to miss the mail boat for the journey home.

Web links

• The series on Cricinfo

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Douglas Alexander: When 10 days were not enough ( English ) Cricinfo. March 7, 2009. Accessed June 23, 2020.