In 1897, George Lohmann — Test cricket's most efficient bowler ever, with 112 wickets at 10.75 — moved permanently to the British Cape Colony. He had been diagnosed with tuberculosis in late 1892 and had survived through annual winters in South Africa; the disease had progressively worsened. He played one full first-class season for Western Province in 1897-98, returned to England in 1901 to manage a South African tour, and died at Matjiesfontein on 1 December 1901 aged 36. His Test bowling average remains the lowest in cricket history.
Tuberculosis was the leading cause of death in late-Victorian England; sanatorium treatment in dry climates was the standard care. Lohmann's diagnosis in 1892 had been kept reasonably private; Surrey continued to pay him as a player even when he could not turn out.
Lohmann's 35 wickets in the 1895-96 South African Tests had been his last great series; the 1897 English summer was a struggle. He bowled only 12 first-class matches and was visibly in decline.
Lohmann had been Surrey's senior fast-medium bowler from 1884 and a Test stalwart from 1886. His 200-wickets-a-season run in the late 1880s and the 1895-96 South African series (35 wickets at 5.80, see entries) had made him the most-feared bowler in cricket. Tuberculosis was diagnosed in autumn 1892; the Surrey committee paid for his first South African winter that year.
Through 1893-96 he wintered in Cape Town and played English summers, achieving the 1895-96 South Africa Test series triumph during one such winter. By 1897 the disease had progressed and English summers had become difficult. He emigrated permanently to Cape Town in autumn 1897, played a full first-class season for Western Province, and combined his cricket with sanatorium treatment at the Matjiesfontein hill station, sponsored by the Scottish-born railway entrepreneur James Logan ('Laird of Matjiesfontein').
Lohmann returned to England briefly in mid-1901 to manage the touring South African team — the first overseas tour by South Africa to receive first-class status. He fell ill again on the voyage back and died at Matjiesfontein on 1 December 1901, aged 36. He is buried in the Matjiesfontein cemetery; the Surrey CCC paid for his memorial. His final Test bowling figures — 112 wickets at 10.75 in 18 Tests — are still the best of any bowler with 100 Test wickets.
Oct 1892: TB diagnosis.
1892-96: Annual South African winters; English summers.
1895-96: 35 wickets in South African Test series.
Autumn 1897: Permanent move to Cape Colony.
1897-98: Full first-class season for Western Province.
Mid-1901: Returns to England to manage South African tour.
1 Dec 1901: Dies at Matjiesfontein, aged 36.
Surrey CCC funds memorial in Matjiesfontein cemetery.
1865
Born in Surrey.
1884
Surrey debut.
1886
Test debut.
1892
TB diagnosis.
1895-96
35 wickets in South African Test series.
1897
Permanent move to Cape Colony.
1 Dec 1901
Dies at Matjiesfontein, aged 36.
“One of the very greatest bowlers cricket has ever produced.”
Lohmann's death produced obituaries in every major English newspaper. Surrey CCC raised a £350 testimonial for his sister, his only surviving close family. Matjiesfontein became a small place of pilgrimage for English cricketers travelling on the Cape line; W.G. Grace visited in 1907.
The greatest bowling average in Test history, paid for in tuberculosis at 36. Lohmann's South African exile is one of cricket's saddest stories.
Lohmann's career bowling average of 10.75 is the lowest of any Test cricketer with 100 wickets — better than Curtly Ambrose (20.99), Glenn McGrath (21.64) or Muttiah Muralitharan (22.72). The mark is unlikely to be approached given changes in pitches, equipment and player workload. His grave at Matjiesfontein is preserved by the South African National Heritage Trust.
England v West Indies
1933-07-22
Six months after Bodyline, Learie Constantine and Manny Martindale opened up with sustained leg-theory bouncers at Douglas Jardine in the Old Trafford Test. Jardine, captaining England, stood up and made 127 — his only Test century — proving, at considerable physical cost, that he could face the tactic he had unleashed on Australia.
India vs Pakistan
1996-03-09
On March 9, 1996, Pakistan's Aamer Sohail cut Venkatesh Prasad for four, then pointed his bat at the boundary as if to say 'I'll do it again'. Next ball Prasad bowled him, then animatedly waved him off the field. The send-off became the defining image of the India-Pakistan 1996 World Cup quarter-final, won by India by 39 runs.
England vs West Indies
1954-04-01
Fred Trueman's 1953-54 tour of the West Indies under Len Hutton was a personal disaster. The 22-year-old Yorkshire fast bowler clashed with hosts, opponents, umpires and even his own captain. At the end of the tour MCC withheld his Good Conduct Bonus — a public censure that probably cost him his place on the next two overseas tours and which Trueman resented for the rest of his life.