On 4 January 1906 at the Old Wanderers, Johannesburg, South Africa beat England by one wicket in the first Test of a five-match series — their first Test victory at the 12th attempt. Dave Nourse's 93 not out and Gordon White's 81 carried the home side past 284 in the fourth innings; the South African googly quartet, all on debut in the same match, took 11 wickets between them.
South Africa had played 11 Tests since their first in 1888-89, losing every one. Their cricket was largely confined to the matting pitches of the Transvaal and the slow turners of Natal; English first-class players generally regarded South African cricket as below their standard.
The MCC tour of 1905-06 was led by Plum Warner, fresh from his Ashes-winning trip to Australia. He had selected what he thought a strong team but, on arrival, found the South African googly bowlers a complete novelty.
England warm-up matches before the first Test produced inconclusive results. The first Test began with Sherwell winning the toss; he chose to bowl, and his googly bowlers reduced England to 184. South Africa's reply of 91 looked ominous, but England batted poorly second time, leaving the chase as the deciding factor.
England arrived in South Africa in late 1905 confident of a comfortable series. The previous English visit (1898-99) had been a 2-0 win and South African Test cricket was still considered well below first-class English standard. The first Test at the Old Wanderers ground in Johannesburg, beginning 2 January 1906, would change that perception.
South Africa, captained by Percy Sherwell, fielded six debutants — including the four wrist-spinners Reggie Schwarz, Bert Vogler, Aubrey Faulkner and Gordon White, who would soon be famous as the 'googly quartet'. England, led by Plum Warner, made 184 in their first innings; South Africa replied with 91. England were dismissed for 190 in their second innings, leaving South Africa 284 to win in the fourth innings on a matting pitch with characteristic awkward bounce.
From 105 for 6 the chase looked beyond them. But Gordon White (81 in four hours) and the left-handed all-rounder Dave Nourse (93 not out) put on the runs. With one wicket left, South Africa needed two; Sherwell, the captain and wicketkeeper, joined Nourse and they edged the side home to a one-wicket victory. The Wanderers crowd erupted; the South African team had won their first Test at the 12th attempt, and the first sign of the country's emergence as a real cricketing nation had arrived.
Sherwell wins toss; chooses to bowl.
England 184 (Schwarz 3 wickets, Vogler 2, Faulkner 1, White 1).
South Africa 91 (Bosanquet 5/49 — by then a regular Test bowler).
England 190 in second innings.
South Africa chase 284; lose first 6 for 105.
White 81 (4 hours); Nourse 93*.
Sherwell joins Nourse with 2 needed and 1 wicket left.
South Africa win by 1 wicket — first Test win in 12 attempts.
2 Jan 1906
1st Test begins; Sherwell wins toss.
Day 1
England 184 all out.
Day 2
South Africa 91 all out.
Day 3
England 190 in second innings.
Day 4 morning
South Africa start chase of 284.
Day 4 afternoon
South Africa 105/6; White and Nourse rebuild.
Day 4 evening
Sherwell joins Nourse, 2 needed, 1 wicket left.
4 Jan 1906, late evening
South Africa win by 1 wicket.
“The first Test cricket victory ever achieved by the home country.”
South Africa went on to win the series 4-1 — their first Test series win of any kind. The four googly bowlers took 43 wickets between them in the five Tests. The result transformed South African cricket's status; the 1907 tour of England (the next major engagement) was now eagerly anticipated rather than tolerated.
Dave Nourse, the man at the centre of the win, would go on to play 45 Tests over a 27-year career, scoring 2,234 Test runs at 29.78. His son Dudley Nourse later captained South Africa in the 1940s.
A landmark Test for South African cricket. A one-wicket win in a fourth-innings chase of 284, against a strong English side, was a result no one had expected. The googly quartet's debut in the same match made it doubly historic.
The one-wicket win at the Old Wanderers in 1906 is treated in South African cricket history as the country's emergence as a Test nation. Three years later (1909) South Africa would be a founding member of the Imperial Cricket Conference; without this win, the case might have been harder to make.
The Old Wanderers ground itself was demolished in 1946 to make way for a railway station; modern Johannesburg Test cricket is played at the Wanderers Stadium nearby. The honours boards from the original ground, including the Nourse and White scores from 1906, were preserved.
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.