Nummy Deane's South Africans played five Tests in England in the long summer of 1929, losing the series 0-2 with three drawn but providing Hammond, Sutcliffe and Woolley with their first sustained run of home Test runs since 1926.
South Africa had been one of cricket's three Test nations until 1928. Their 1929 side was middle-aged but experienced; the absence of Herbie Taylor (declined the tour) was felt throughout. The English summer was hot and dry, conditions that suited the home batsmen.
South Africa, having lost 1-3 to England at home in 1927-28, came to England in 1929 with a side captained by H.G. (Nummy) Deane and including Bob Catterall, Tuppy Owen-Smith, Cyril Vincent and the off-spinner Buster Nupen. The five Tests were played across the summer.
The first Test at Edgbaston was drawn after Hobbs's last home Test innings of substance — 211 not out paired with Sutcliffe's 114. The second at Lord's was drawn after Frank Woolley's 83 and the off-spin of Tom Goddard. The third Test at Headingley was won by England by 5 wickets after Hammond's 65 and Tate's match figures of 7 for 75. The fourth Test at Old Trafford was drawn. The fifth Test at the Oval was won by England by an innings and 8 — Sutcliffe 104, Tuppy Owen-Smith 129 (the highest score by a South African in England to that point).
The series gave a debut to Maurice Turnbull, who would captain Glamorgan and England, and confirmed Wally Hammond — fresh from his 905 runs in the Ashes — as the fully-formed senior English batsman. Sutcliffe topped the English batting averages with 513 runs at 73; Tate was the leading wicket-taker with 18 wickets at 21.
First Test, Edgbaston: drawn; Hobbs 211*, Sutcliffe 114
Second Test, Lord's: drawn
Third Test, Headingley: England win by 5 wickets; Tate 7/75
Fourth Test, Old Trafford: drawn
Fifth Test, Oval: England win by an innings and 8; Owen-Smith 129
Jun 1929
First Test, Edgbaston — Hobbs 211*
Jul 1929
Third Test, Headingley — England win by 5 wickets
Aug 1929
Fifth Test, Oval — Owen-Smith 129; England win by an innings
“England's batting was relentless; ours was full of bright moments but lacked the weight of theirs.”
Hobbs's 211* at Edgbaston was his last big home Test innings; he retired from Test cricket the following Ashes summer of 1930. Owen-Smith returned to South Africa to study medicine; he later represented England at rugby. Deane's side was the foundation of the South African team that would draw 0-0 with Australia in the famous 1935-36 series.
England 2-0 in 1929 was the second of three successive home wins for the post-Hammond English Test side, and confirmed that the 1928-29 Ashes had not been a flash in the pan but the start of a sustained period of English Test dominance.
The 1929 series is remembered as one of the higher-quality non-Ashes Test series of the inter-war period. The Owen-Smith 129 at the Oval is still in the top ten South African Test innings in England.
Yorkshire v Essex
1932-06-16
On 15-16 June 1932 Herbert Sutcliffe (313) and Percy Holmes (224*) put on 555 for the first wicket against Essex at Leyton, breaking the world first-class record for any wicket and adding a layer of folklore — including a scoreboard that read 554 for several minutes and a hastily reversed declaration — that has clung to the partnership ever since.
Australia v England
1933-02-14
With the fate of the Bodyline series in the balance and England 216 for 6 chasing 340, Eddie Paynter checked himself out of a Brisbane hospital where he was being treated for acute tonsillitis, taxied to the Gabba in pyjamas and a dressing gown, and batted for nearly four hours to score 83. England drew level on first innings, won the Test by six wickets and the series 4-1.
Australia
1934-09-25
Days after the 1934 Oval Test, Bradman fell seriously ill with appendicitis that progressed to peritonitis. With antibiotics not yet available, he was given little chance of survival; his wife Jessie left Adelaide on a sea voyage to England prepared for the worst. He recovered after weeks of intensive nursing in a London nursing home and returned to first-class cricket the following Australian summer.