Too Black to Wear Whites

Winch, Jonty , Parry, Richard

EPUB

William Henry ‘Krom’ Hendricks was the first sportsman to be formally barred from representing South Africa on the basis of race. Hailing from Cape Town’s Bo-Kaap, he played in 1892 for the South African Malay team against the touring English, who insisted that he was among the best fast bowlers in the world. This made his exclusion from South Africa’s tour of England in 1894 and subsequent Test series all the more unjust. Ranged against Hendricks were virulent racism and a political alliance between arch-imperialist Cecil John Rhodes, Afrikaner Bond leader J.H. Hofmeyr, and cricket administrator William Milton. Too Black to Wear Whites documents Hendricks’s tireless struggle for recognition and the public contro¬versies around his exclusion. The book shows how Hendricks was further sidelined at senior club level by a cricket establishment determined to save its white players the embarrassment of being shown up by the country’s best fast bowler. Considering his importance in South African sports history, surprisingly little is known about Krom Hendricks. The story of his life is told here for the first time in a fascinating drama that describes the formation of a segregated South Africa through the career of an exceptional cricketer who challenged the boundaries of the system.

Unavailable in your Territory
9781776095094
1.56 mb
English
2020-02-01
Penguin Random House South Africa
1
5
Unauthorised downloading, copying, distribution or exploitation of this content is an infringement of intellectual property rights and may be a criminal offence. Your purchase and download of this content is for your personal use, and you agree not to modify, copy, or share it with any other person.