CRICKET IN SOUTH AFRICA.

Otago Daily Times, Issue 19616, 21 October 1925, Page 8

CRICKET IN SOUTH AFRICA.

tour of joel's team. (From Ode Own Correspondent.) PIETERMAEITZBUBG, Sept. 10. The tour of Mr S.B. Joel's English cricket team in South Africa during 1924-25 h&s been a conspicuous financial failure. The report and balance sheet now issued by the South African Cricket Association show that the tour will cost its sporting 1 promoter a little over £6ooo—to be exact, £5235. The tour cost £8577 in working expenses, to which is to be added £3857, losses incurred by the various unions on the matches played. On the credit side the guarantees from the various unions amounted to £7200, leaving a debit balan-"3 of £5235 The larcpr items of the expenditure of the tour are the following:—Professionals' salaries, £2213; steamship fares. £1536; hotel accounts. £1529; rail fares, £576; amateurs' allowances, £700; Mr A. C. MacLnen, £545: baggage, cartage, etc., £345; tips, £242; laundry, £169; general expenses, £215. The losses incurred by the unions are the followins:—Transvaal, £1184; Western Province. £1020; Eastern Province (Cape), £689, Natal, £380; Orange Free State. £296; Rhodesia £126; South Western ■Districts (Cune). £117; Griqualand West, £76;—total, £3891. This, less profits (£33), from Natal, makes £3857 net loss. The Board of Control of the South African Association reports that " the tour proved of great interest." The financial facts go to ■Drove the contrary. There was a very languid interest in the tour. Much more public interest was ehown in the English matches in Australia. The board attributes the adverse financial results mainly to bad weather conditions. The facts are against this view. The second " test," nlaved at Durban in fine weather, and with all the advantages of the New Year holidavs, resulted in a loss of between £2OO and £300; whereas the test match played there by Mr Mann's M.C.C. team, in worse conditions and weather, showed a profit of £1500! The real reason for the failure of the tour was that the combination—excellent one though it was—was not a hallTnaTked M.C.C. team.