Personal information | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Full name | Augustus Bernard Tancred | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Born |
Port Elizabeth, Cape Colony, South Africa |
20 August 1865|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Died | 23 November 1911 Cape Town, Cape Province, South Africa |
(aged 46)|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Batting style | Right-hand bat | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Bowling style | Right-arm medium | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
International information | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
National side | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Test debut (cap 10) | 12 March 1889 v England | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Last Test | 25 March 1889 v England | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Career statistics | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Source: ESPNcricinfo, 28 December 2015 |
Augustus Bernard Tancred (20 August 1865 – 23 November 1911) was a leading 19th century South African Test cricketer.
Born in Port Elizabeth, South Africa, Tancred attended St. Aidan's College, Grahamstown, 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, Pretoria and Johannesburg. 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.
Tancred was an obvious choice for the first South African cricket side, assembled to play the first touring English cricket team during its two Test tour of South Africa in the 1888-89 South African cricket season. While the South African cricket team 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 season Tancred played for Kimberley against Transvaal in the inaugural Currie Cup, 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.