Published: Sep 09, 2014, 06:15 AM (IST)
Edited: Feb 11, 2016, 01:22 PM (IST)
Gobo Ashley, born February 10, 1862, played a solitary Test — one that is remembered for more reasons than one. Abhishek Mukherjee looks at a man whose only Test showcased the class that never got a chance to blossom.
[read-also]31667,174536[/read-also]
William Hare “Gobo” Ashley played the second ever Test played by South Africa. He struck gold on debut, standing tall with his left-arm medium-paced bowling in a humiliating defeat in a Test that saw many a record tumble. Unfortunately, that remained his only Test, and only three more of his matches were given First-Class status.
From his four matches Ashley picked up 20 wickets at 14.10, which perhaps speaks for his class. In all recorded matches (matches in South Africa were not usually given First-Class status in Ashley’s era) — 16 of them — Ashley finished with 70 wickets at 14.94.
Way to Test cricket
Born in Mowbray, Cape Colony, Ashley played his first recorded match for Mowbray and Leeuwenhof & Stray Klips, returning figures of 2 for 31. He was selected by Cape Town Wanderers and registered back-to-back five-wicket hauls against Kimberley CC and Eclectic CC.
Major Gardiner Warton’s Englishmen toured South Africa in 1888-89. The tour was a historic one for South Africa in more ways than one. For starters, Warton’s team brought a cup donated by Sir Donald Currie, owner of SS Garth Castle, the vessel that had carried England to the South African shores.
The Currie Cup was given to Kimberley (for being the side “which excels the most against the visitors”). However, Kimberley decided to “donate” the Currie Cup in subsequent years: it became the prize for an annual cricket tournament among South African provinces, and went on to become the premier domestic cricket tournament in South Africa. Ashley accounted for 15 wickets from three matches against the tourists, none of which were given First-Class status.
Meanwhile, South African XI were beaten at St George’s Park despite Albert Rose-Innes’ five for 43 that restricted RG Warton’s XI to 148 in the first innings: the hosts were bowled out for 84 and 129 and lost by eight wickets (Warton himself umpired in the match). It was much, much later that the match was given Test status.
The hosts made three changes in what would later be called second (and final of the series) Test at Newlands: they brought in Dicky Richards, the exotically named (especially for a cricketer) Nicolaas Hendrik Christiaan de Jong Theunissen, and Ashley. None of them played another Test.
Aubrey Smith, England’s captain, was ruled out with enteric fever. He was replaced by Monty Bowden, who, at 23 years 144 days, went on to become the youngest Test captain — and remains England’s youngest Test captain.
The only Test
Bowden batted first, and after Bobby Abel and George Ulyett set off, adding 54 in 36 minutes for the opening stand. Ashley was introduced after Theunissen and Rose-Innes, and he snared Ulyett early. Johnny Briggs followed soon to Charles Vintcent at the other end.
With Ashley and Vintcent both striking again, England were reduced to 110 for 4 — but Abel and Henry Wood added 105 for the fifth stand. Abel continued to bat on as Ashley kept striking, and was eventually seventh out for 120 when Ashley cleaned him up. The last 4 wickets fell for 5 as Ashley ran through, and England were bowled out for 292.
Ashley finished with figures of 7 for 95 from 43.1 overs (28.5 six-ball overs) while Vintcent picked up the other 3. In the process Ashley created several records:
– He became the first to take 7 wickets in the first innings he bowled in (among South Africans, only Marchant de Lange, with 7 for 81, has better figures in the first bowling innings).
– He became the first South African to take 7 wickets in an innings (it was not till 1905-06 that Tip Snooke became the second).
– Ashley’s 7 for 95 remain the best innings figures for any bowler to have played a solitary Test.
– The figures (which remained his match figures) were also the best match figures for anyone to have played a single Test at that time: it has been bettered by only Charles Marriott, who took 6 for 59 and 5 for 37 at The Oval in 1933 and never played again.
The rest of the Test passed in a blur as South Africa were bowled out twice in 75.3 overs (50.3 six-ball overs) for 47 and 43. Bernard Tancred carried his bat through the first innings, becoming the first man to do so; his 26 also remains the lowest by anyone to have carried his bat through a completed Test innings. South Africa’s abysmal display also made Abel the first Test batsman to outscore an opposition on his own.
The wrecker-in-chief was Briggs, who finished with near-unreal figures of 19.1-11-17-7 (the second-cheapest seven-for) and 14.2-5-11-8 (the second-cheapest eight-for). The match figures of 15 for 28 remain the cheapest 15-for by the proverbial mile; of his wickets, 14 were bowled and one leg-before, Ashley scored an eight-ball one and a golden duck (he was bowled by Briggs in each innings). He never played another Test, and the figures remained his best for any archived match he played.
Final days
Ashley’s next First-Class match was for Cape Town Clubs against Natal at Newlands next season where he impressed with 6 for 40 and 1 for 32. He played two more First-Class matches — both for Western Province at Newlands — and finished with match hauls of 4 for 66 against Eastern Province and 2 for 49 against Griqualand West.
When Walter Read’s XI toured South Africa in 1891-92, Ashley had 5 for 42 against them for Border and 3 for 52 for Western Province. Neither match was given First-Class status. He was not picked for the only Test at Newlands, and never played again.
Ashley passed away at Plumtree, Rhodesia on July 14, 1930. He was 68.
(Abhishek Mukherjee is the Editorial Head and Cricket Historian at CricketCountry. He blogs here and can be followed on Twitter here.)
