cricket tour
IMAGINE finding a wooden chest half-buried in the sand. You dig it out and scrape the seaweed away. You see a rusty lock. A quick yank and the chest creaks open. For the first time in a hundred years the treasure inside sparkles to the light of day. Well, as a social historian, I had such an experience just the other day.
Hidden from researchers of South African cricket, literally in a wooden chest, is a remarkable story of a tour to India in 1921/1922 by South African Indians to play a series of cricket and football matches.
Seventeen members set sail on this tour: MB Subban, B Maharaj (vice-captain), IE Bhayat, M Doman, S Doorsamy, A Gaffoor, AA Gany, R Jithoo, SL Munpath, RR Pillay, JS Rajpaul, SI Rawat, S Sham, BP Singh and SM Timol.
