Arthur Edward Ochse (11 March 1870 – 11 April 1918) played
Test cricket
Test cricket is a Forms of cricket, format of the sport of cricket, considered the game’s most prestigious and traditional form. Often referred to as the "ultimate test" of a cricketer's skill, endurance, and temperament, it is a format of i ...
in the first matches played by
South Africa
South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the Southern Africa, southernmost country in Africa. Its Provinces of South Africa, nine provinces are bounded to the south by of coastline that stretches along the Atlantic O ...
in 1888–89.
Life and career
A middle-order batsman, Ochse, like the rest of the South African team, made his
first-class debut in his country's first
Test
Test(s), testing, or TEST may refer to:
* Test (assessment), an educational assessment intended to measure the respondents' knowledge or other abilities
Arts and entertainment
* ''Test'' (2013 film), an American film
* ''Test'' (2014 film) ...
match, which was played against
England
England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...
at
Port Elizabeth
Gqeberha ( , ), formerly named Port Elizabeth, and colloquially referred to as P.E., is a major seaport and the most populous city in the Eastern Cape province of South Africa. It is the seat of the Nelson Mandela Bay Metropolitan Municipal ...
. At 19 years and 1 day old, he was South Africa's youngest Test debutant (a record since surpassed) and he retained his place for the second Test played two weeks later. But like so many of his teammates, his inexperience against such good opposition showed. In four innings against Major Warton's team, Ochse scored just 16 runs as England ran out comprehensive winners in South Africa's first two representative matches played on level terms. During the second
innings
An innings is one of the divisions of a cricket match during which one team takes its turn to bat. Innings also means the period in which an individual player bats (acts as either striker or nonstriker). In cricket and rounders, "innings" is ...
of the second Test, played at Cape Town, Ochse was bowled by England's
slow left arm spinner,
Johnny Briggs, one of Briggs' eight victims in a then Test record of eight wickets for 11 runs in an innings (and 15 for 28 in a match).
Domestically, Ochse played for
Transvaal
Transvaal is a historical geographic term associated with land north of (''i.e.'', beyond) the Vaal River in South Africa. A number of states and administrative divisions have carried the name ''Transvaal''.
* South African Republic (1856–1902; ...
, once in 1891 and twice more in 1895. In the match against
Kimberley
Kimberly or Kimberley may refer to:
Places and historical events
Australia
Queensland
* Kimberley, Queensland, a coastal locality in the Shire of Douglas
South Australia
* County of Kimberley, a cadastral unit in South Australia
Ta ...
at
Johannesburg
Johannesburg ( , , ; Zulu language, Zulu and Xhosa language, Xhosa: eGoli ) (colloquially known as Jozi, Joburg, Jo'burg or "The City of Gold") is the most populous city in South Africa. With 5,538,596 people in the City of Johannesburg alon ...
in the
Currie Cup
The Currie Cup () is South Africa's premier domestic rugby union competition featuring teams representing either entire provinces or substantial regions within provinces. Although it is the premier domestic competition, four South African franc ...
season of 1890/91, he was unlucky to miss out on a maiden century when, in the second innings, he fell one run short. He also scored 45 in Transvaal's first innings and took two wickets in the match.
Ochse served in the
South African Infantry during
World War I
World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...
. He was killed in action at
Messines Ridge on the
Western Front during Germany's 1918
Spring Offensive.
["Supplementary Obituaries", '']Wisden
''Wisden Cricketers' Almanack'', or simply ''Wisden'', colloquially the Bible of Cricket, is a cricket reference book published annually in the United Kingdom. The description "Bible of cricket" (or variations thereof) has been applied to ''Wi ...
'' 2015, pp. 229–50.
See also
*
Arthur Lennox Ochse
References
External links
*
*
Sources
* ''World Cricketers – A Biographical Dictionary'' by Christopher Martin-Jenkins published by Oxford University Press (1996)
* ''The Wisden Book of Test Cricket, Volume 1 (1877–1977)'' compiled and edited by Bill Frindall published by Headline Book Publishing (1995)
{{DEFAULTSORT:Ochse, Arthur
1870 births
1918 deaths
Cricketers from Graaff-Reinet
South Africa Test cricketers
South African cricketers
Gauteng cricketers
South African military personnel killed in World War I
Cape Colony cricketers