Augustus Bernard Tancred (20 August 1865 – 23 November 1911) was a 19th-century South African

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 ...

er. His brothers,

Vincent Vincent (Latin: ''Vincentius'') is a masculine given name originating from the Roman name ''Vincentius'', which itself comes from the Latin verb ''vincere'', meaning "to conquer." People with the given name Artists *Vincent Apap (1909–2003) ...

and

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, also played Test cricket for South Africa.

Early life

Born in

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 ...

, South Africa, Tancred attended St. Aidan's College,

Grahamstown Makhanda, formerly known as Grahamstown, is a town of about 75,000 people in the Eastern Cape province of South Africa. It is situated about northeast of Gqeberha and southwest of East London. It is the largest town in the Makana Local Mun ...

, where he first displayed his cricketing prowess. His contemporaries at school included Percy Fitzpatrick and Charles Coghlan. He attended the Cape University and although there are no records to indicate that he graduated he practised law throughout South Africa, including

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 ...

Pretoria Pretoria ( ; ) is the Capital of South Africa, administrative capital of South Africa, serving as the seat of the Executive (government), executive branch of government, and as the host to all foreign embassies to the country. Pretoria strad ...

and

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 ...

. He became a prominent member of the Uitlander community. Tancred continued to star in club cricket, gaining a reputation as the best batsman in South Africa, with a strong defence, as well as an outstanding point fielder.

Career

Tancred was an obvious choice for the first South African cricket side, assembled to play the first touring

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during its two Test tour of South Africa in the 1888–89 South African cricket season. While the

South African cricket team The South Africa men's national cricket team, also known as the Proteas, represents South Africa in men's international cricket and is administered by Cricket South Africa. South Africa is a full member of the International Cricket Council. T ...

lost both Tests, Tancred's 87 runs made him the leading South African run-scorer in the series and he became the first batsman to carry his bat in a Test, when he scored an unbeaten 26 of 47 in the second Test at Newlands Cricket Ground. This innings is still the Test Match record for the lowest score made by a batsman carrying their bat through an innings. The following

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Tancred played for

against Transvaal in the inaugural

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 ...

, with his second innings 106 the maiden Currie Cup century. He also reinforced his stature in South African cricket and society by founding the Transvaal Cricket Union in 1891 and serving as its foundation chairman. Married in 1893 to Adeline Wainwright, who bore him three daughters, Tancred's increasing work commitments forced his withdrawal from the 1894 South African tour of England. The increase in tensions in South Africa between the

Boer Boers ( ; ; ) are the descendants of the proto Afrikaans-speaking Free Burghers of the eastern Cape frontier in Southern Africa during the 17th, 18th, and 19th centuries. From 1652 to 1795, the Dutch East India Company controlled the Dutch ...

s and Uitlanders saw 'Captain' Tancred and others guarding the main Pretoria – Johannesburg road. The following year, Tancred travelled to England possibly to attend a

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inquiry into the Jameson Raid, and, his cricketing fame having preceded him, he was made an honorary member of the

Marylebone Cricket Club The Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC) is a cricket club founded in 1787 and based since 1814 at Lord's, Lord's Cricket Ground, which it owns, in St John's Wood, London, England. The club was the governing body of cricket from 1788 to 1989 and retain ...

and turned out for the club against the

Derbyshire County Cricket Club Derbyshire County Cricket Club is one of eighteen first-class county clubs within the domestic cricket structure of England and Wales. It represents the historic county of Derbyshire. Its limited overs team is called the Derbyshire Falco ...

. He was also made an honorary member of Surrey County Cricket Club. Tancred played his final first class match in February 1899 in the 1898–99 South African cricket season, representing Transvaal against Lord Hawke's touring English side but was again unavailable for the Test series due to business concerns.

Later life

During the

Second Boer War The Second Boer War (, , 11 October 189931 May 1902), also known as the Boer War, Transvaal War, Anglo–Boer War, or South African War, was a conflict fought between the British Empire and the two Boer republics (the South African Republic and ...

, Tancred worked for British intelligence and then as Legal Adviser to the Military Governor in

Bloemfontein Bloemfontein ( ; ), also known as Bloem, is the capital and the largest city of the Free State (province), Free State province in South Africa. It is often, and has been traditionally, referred to as the country's "judicial capital", alongsi ...

, necessitating his absence from the 1901 South African tour of England, which it had been thought he would captain. Following the end of the war, Tancred moved to

Salisbury Salisbury ( , ) is a city status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city and civil parish in Wiltshire, England with a population of 41,820, at the confluence of the rivers River Avon, Hampshire, Avon, River Nadder, Nadder and River Bourne, Wi ...

to open a law firm in partnership with his fellow St Aidan's alumni (and future Premier of Southern Rhodesia) Sir Charles Coghlan. While in Salisbury in 1911, Tancred became seriously ill and was brought to

Cape Town Cape Town is the legislature, legislative capital city, capital of South Africa. It is the country's oldest city and the seat of the Parliament of South Africa. Cape Town is the country's List of municipalities in South Africa, second-largest ...

en route to England to receive specialist treatment but, after a deterioration in his condition, underwent emergency surgery and died in Cape Town the day his ship left for England. Survived by his wife and three daughters (a son died young), Tancred had become known as the " W. G. Grace of South Africa" for his cricketing exploits and ''

Wisden Cricketers' Almanack ''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 ...

'' called him "undoubtedly the finest batsman in South Africa".''Wisden Cricketers' Almanack'' 1912 Obituaries
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References

Sources

* Hall, BT & Schulze, H (2000) "The Cricketing Brothers Tancred, Part 1", ''The Cricket Statistician'', No. 111, Association of Cricket Statisticians and Historians, Orpington, Kent. See also No. 112 and 129. * Murray, B & Vahed, G (2009) ''Empire and Cricket: The South African Experience 1884–1914'', chapter 6. * Schulze, H (1999) ''South Africa's Cricketing Lawyers'', chapter 2. {{DEFAULTSORT:Tancred, Bernard 1865 births 1911 deaths Griqualand West cricketers South Africa Test cricketers South African cricketers Gauteng cricketers Marylebone Cricket Club cricketers Cricketers from Gqeberha Cape Colony cricketers