Nummy Deane - Test Cricketer

Test Cricketer

The 1924 South Africans lost the Test series to England by three matches to nil, with two draws, with the weakness of the bowling singled out by Wisden Cricketers' Almanack in its review of the tour as a prime cause for failure. Deane himself merited not a single mention in the four-page Wisden article describing the highlights of the tour, and his tour figures indicate that he was rarely prominent: in 25 first-class matches, he passed 50 only once, and his 621 runs came at an average of 22.18. The one half-century was a not-out innings of 80 in a match against Scotland in which the South Africans comprehensively outplayed their hosts. Despite this modest record, Deane was picked as a specialist batsman for all five Test matches and in a team in which only Bob Catterall and, to a lesser degree, Fred Susskind made many runs, he did as much as most of his team-mates, scoring 143 runs at an average of 23.83. Mostly he batted in lower middle order at No 7, and his best score came in the third Test when he reverted to that position for the second innings, having opened the batting in the first innings, and made an unbeaten 47 that forced England to bat again after South Africa had followed on 264 runs behind on the first innings.

South African domestic cricket in 1924-25 was dominated by the tour of a team of English cricketers sponsored by the tycoon S. B. Joel; the team included players with Test experience, but though four matches were arranged against a Test-standard South African side, they were granted only first-class status. Deane played in all four but made little impression; he did better in the Transvaal match against Joel's side, when he scored a second-innings 118. From 1925-26, he was captain of the Transvaal team; in his first season, the team won the Currie Cup by winning five matches out of six, and the following year Transvaal won every match they played.