Charles Llewellyn
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| Batting style | Left-hand bat | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Bowling style | Slow left-arm chinaman | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Source: CricketArchive | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Charles Bennett (Buck) Llewellyn (29 September 1876 – 7 June 1964) was the first non-white South African Test cricketer.
Born out of wedlock in Pietermaritzburg to an English father and a black Saint Helenan mother, the dark-eyed and dark-skinned Llewellyn had an underprivileged upbringing in Natal being considered of mixed blood. He showed all round cricketing prowess from a young age, being a hard hitting left-handed batsman, slow left arm bowler (with a dangerous chinaman as part of his arsenal) and a great fielder, particularly at mid-off.
While the racism of late nineteenth century South Africa had led to other leading non-white players being omitted from representative sides, Llewellyn's ability to pass himself of as white in some cases (Wilfred Rhodes described him as “like a rather sunburned English player"), helped clear the racial hurdle to selection and he was chosen to make his first class debut for Natal against Transvaal on 13 April 1895, where he took four wickets. While now accepted as a cricketer, Llewellyn would be referred to as "coloured" throughout his career and there are reports of his race-related mistreatment by other South African players.
Duly impressed with his cricketing skill, selectors chose him in a Natal side against Lord Hawke's England XI and subsequently selected Llewellyn to make his Test debut for South Africa against England at Johannesburg on 2 March 1896, aged 19 years and 155 days.
Llewellyn failed to take a wicket in this first Test and was promptly omitted from the remainder of the series but responded by performing impressively in the 1897/98 and 1898/99 Currie Cups, which led to his recall to the national team for the first Test of the 1898/99 series against England. Llewellyn impressed by taking five wickets but was surprisingly left out of the second Test.
At the end of the 1898/99 series Llewellyn, perturbed by the actions of the selectors and seeking financial security, left South Africa to play for English county side Hampshire County Cricket Club as a professional. He would star for Hampshire for over a decade, scoring 8772 runs at 27.58 and snaring 711 wickets at 24.66. His form was such that in 1902 Llewellyn was named in the English First Test squad against the touring Australians, missing out on the final side. He was however included in an English side captained by Ranjitsinhji that toured America.
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