The inaugural South African cricket tour of England took place in the 1894 season.
Contents
None of the 24 matches have first-class standing, although South Africa had already begun playing matches subsequently recognised as Test matches at home and many of the matches on tour were against first-class county clubs. The South Africans won 12 matches, drew 7 and lost 5.
The team
The best-known player on the team was Frank Hearne, one of the few players to represent two countries in Test cricket. He played for England in 1888-89 and for South Africa from 1891 to 1896.
Six of the team – Cripps, Halliwell, Hearne, Mills, Parkin and Routledge – had played in South Africa's most recent Test in 1892; Glover, Halliwell, Hearne, Johnson, Middleton, Routledge, Rowe and Seccull played Tests later in the 1890s. Only four – Castens, Davey, Kempis and Sewell – did not play Test cricket.