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'CAPE SUMMER' - The 1956/57 MCC Tour of South Africa in Film.

watson

Banned
In 2009 the MCC put together a 90 minute documentary called 'Cape Summer: MCC Tour to South Africa 1957/57'. It is narrated by Michael Elliot. The documentary is so monumentally good that I think that is deserves its own thread. There are no histrionics and the production is understated, but it is still engrossing.

The interviews with Peter Richardson and Clive Van Ryneveld are central to documentary as they recall each of the five Tests matches in detail. There are also excellent interviews with Denis Compton, Peter May, Trevor Bailey, Johnny Wardle, John Waite and Trevor Goddard. Incidently, Goddard reveals that he found Bailey the most difficult of the English bowlers.

As usual for the 1950s the film quality is not the best, but that still doesn't stop the slow motion footage of Adocock, Heine, Goddard, Tayfield and Wardle in Part 2 being sensational. Adcock looks absolutely terrifying as he runs through the crease at full tilt and hurls the ball with his great 'windmill' action. He is not unlike Mike Procter, but slightly less chest-on. How he bowled a good outswinger is a mystery.

However, it was Tayfield and Wardle who ended up being the heros of the series which finished 2-2. It is suggested that if Peter May had used Wardle properly and not prohibited him from bowling his Chinamen more often then England would have won the series.

May scored 1270 runs on the tour, but averaged only 15.3 in the Tests as he obviously failed to come to terms with the aggression of the South African bowlers. Consequently, Richardson, Cowdrey, and Bailey formed the foundation of English batting. Goddard and McLean for the South Africans.

I hope that you enjoy watching the many personalities of this iconic Tour 'come to life', and that you also come away with the impression that Trevors Bailey and Goddard would have to be two of the most under-rated and misunderstood greats in cricketing lore.
 
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watson

Banned
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There is footage of Statham taking a hatrick at about the 12 min mark.
 
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watson

Banned
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The best footage of Adcock, Heine, Goddard, Tayfield, and Wardle that you ever likely to see. If Adcock is not hitting the 150s kph then I'll eat my hat.
 
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Red

The normal awards that everyone else has
Agree that Trevor Bailey is quite underrated. Should really be remembered with the great ARs.

Will watch these tomorrow. Thanks Watson
 

watson

Banned
Thanks for sharing these Watson!
Glad that you liked them Jimmy.

The point of showing these archives is to get a sense of perspective. That is, how do the greats of decades ago compare to comtemporary players? What do we make of them?

You can read about the fast bowlers from the 1950s, and the following article from The Telegraph paints a vivid picture - but actually seeing them in action makes the words more believable.

Facing Adcock in his prime was a fearsome prospect, especially when Peter Heine was operating from the other end. Heine — “that bloody Dutchman”, as Jim Laker christened him — was indeed psychopathic on the cricket field. “I want to hit you, Bailey,” he once growled at Trevor Bailey, “I want to hit you over the heart.” “Get up,” he shouted after felling Peter Richardson, “I want to hit you again.” The sight of a batsman writhing in agony appealed to his sense of humour.

The handsome, fair-haired Adcock, however, could be just as terrifying. Both bowlers were tall — Adcock, at 6ft 3in, was an inch shorter than Heine — and capable of making the ball rise steeply from a length. Their bouncers, of course, were aimed at the batsman’s head. If Adcock was marginally less inclined to invective, and indeed capable of being perfectly agreeable off the pitch, in the Test arena there was little to chose between the two bowlers in aggression.

Adcock’s action was certainly the more original. “He bowls without interruption in the course of his run,” Wisden observed, “swinging his arm on a trunk that is virtually upright — like a sudden gust turning a light windmill.”

At every stage his toes remained pointing towards the batsman, while at the moment of delivery a plumb-line from hand to ground would have brushed down the bowler’s right flank. Tom Graveney thought him “as near to being an arm bowler as anyone I have ever seen”, and wondered how such an action could deliver such ferocious pace.

Fred Trueman, for his part, marvelled at how Adcock managed to bowl outswingers with an inswinger’s open-chested action; the miracle was, however, most certainly achieved. Moreover, Adcock improved with age, becoming even faster as he concentrated on rhythm rather than muscular effort.

Neil Adcock - Telegraph
Personally, if Adcock and Heine, or Tyson and Statham were bowling in Test matches today then they would be a revelation. Line Smith and Williamson up against these bowlers, strip them of their helmets, and then watch their eyes light up after an over or two. Also makes you marvel at batsman like Colin Cowdrey who played these bowlers relatively unprotecred, yet with such skillful grace.
 
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a massive zebra

International Captain
Here is the full interview with Peter Richardson, some clips of which were featured in the documentary posted by Watson.


He certainly sounds like a great character; a lovely, warm man with a great sense of humour.
 

RWood

Cricket Spectator
Fascinating piece of history. Very slow scoring, partly attributable to the inferior pitches, especially the farcical one used at Port Elizabeth. Never quite explicable how May scored so few runs in the tests, though. And yet in the 1957 season he was as good as ever, in fact probably at his peak. I don't think his health permitted one to see the best of his cricket.

Heine sounded like a very unpleasant person and should have been given a taste of his own medicine. There are limits to intimidatory behaviour which were clearly transgressed.
 

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