International SPEEDWAY
International SPEEDWAY
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INTERNATIONALS - SOUTH AFRICA
South Africa v England
| 1930-31 | 12.12 : Johannesburg (Ellis Park Cindrena) | South Africa | 17 | England | 37 | |
| UNOFFICIAL | Joe Sarkis | 5 | Nobby Key | 9 | ||
| Note : Scorers of this match supplied by Maciej Wegrzyn. | "Baby" (B E) Scott | 4 | John Deeley | 9 | ||
| Heat details, supplied by Ken MacLeod, are from the | Stan Collins © | 3 | Ivor Hill | 7 | ||
| Rand Daily Mail (Johannesburg). | Allan Reeve | 3 | Wally Lloyd | 5 | ||
| Other matches in this series appear to have been cancelled | Fred Neill | 2 | "Bunny" Wilcox | 4 | ||
| due to a combination of the lack of strength of the home | Ginger Bower | 0 | Charlie Hornby © | 2 | ||
| team, heavy rain, and a "strike" (for more pay) by the South | "Gummy" Barnes | 0 | Arthur Tims | 1 | ||
| African riders. | ||||||
| Heat Details | 5 : Deeley, Lloyd, Sarkis | 59.0 | 1-5 | 9-21 | |||||
| 1 : Hill, Reeve, Collins | 57.8 | 3-3 | 3-3 | 6 : Key, Collins, Wilcox | 58.8 | 2-4 | 11-25 | ||
| 2 : Deeley, Scott, Lloyd | 59.8 | 2-4 | 5-7 | 7 : Sarkis, Hornby, Hill | 59.6 | 3-3 | 14-28 | ||
| 3 : Key, Wilcox, Sarkis | 59.0 | 1-5 | 6-12 | 8 : Deeley, Lloyd, Reeve | 60.0 | 1-5 | 15-33 | ||
| 4 : Hill, Neill, Timms | 60.0 | 2-4 | 8-16 | 9 : Key, Scott, Wilcox | 59.8 | 2-4 | 17-37 | ||
| Chateau Brandy Handicap : Deeley, Hornby, Key | |||||||||
| 1948-49 | England won series 4-1 | ||||
| UNOFFICIAL | 01.01 : Johannesburg (Wembley) | South Africa | 31 | England | 53 |
| 08.01 : Benoni (Dunswart) | South Africa | 42 | England | 41 | |
| Johannesburg (Wembley) | South Africa | 39 | England | 44 | |
| Johannesburg (Wembley) | South Africa | 39 | England | 43 | |
| Benoni (Dunswart) | South Africa | 40 | England | 44 | |
| Note : An extra "friendly international" was held at Wembley, Johannesburg, 05.03. Result: South Africa 43 (H Long © 11+1(paid max), B Quick 9, F Wills 8, O Wessman ?) England 40 (W Plant © 9, A Chambers 9). The tourists rode borrowed machines in this match, as their own were being shipped back to the UK. Buddy Fuller was unable to ride due to a back injury. | |||||
| South Africa | Total | England | Total | |||||||||||
| Henry Long | 11 | 10 | 9 | 11 | 10 | 51 | Alan Chambers | 8 | 12 | 10 | 7 | 10 | 47 | |
| Buddy Fuller © | 5 | 10 | 11 | 8 | 7 | 41 | Peter Robinson | 11 | 7 | 8 | 8 | 9 | 43 | |
| Fred Wills | 3 | 6 | 5 | 3 | 5 | 22 | Wilf Plant © | 5 | 9 | 11 | 8 | 8 | 41 | |
| Toby Boshoff | 5 | 3 | - | 4 | 4 | 16 | Ken Middleditch | 7 | 8 | 8 | 9 | 6 | 38 | |
| Doug Serrurier | 2 | 6 | 4 | 2 | 2 | 16 | Ted Gibson | 9 | 0 | 3 | 2 | 5 | 19 | |
| Bob Quick | 2 | 3 | 4 | 4 | - | 13 | Ken Tidbury | 7 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 15 | |
| Syd van der Vyver | - | - | 3 | 4 | 5 | 12 | Jeff Bishop | 3 | 3 | 2 | 6 | 0 | 14 | |
| Harry du Toit | - | - | 2 | 3 | 6 | 11 | Jimmy Dunn | 3 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 4 | 8 | |
| Joe Blankfield | 3 | 1 | - | - | 1 | 5 | ||||||||
| Oscar Wessman | - | 3 | 1 | - | - | 4 | ||||||||
| Bob Serrurier | 0 | - | - | - | - | 0 | ||||||||
| Heat Details - 1st.Match at Johannesburg | ||
| H 1: 1 B. Fuller, 2 D. Serrurier, 3
W. Plant, Tidbury 5-1 5-1 H 2: 1 H. Long, 2 P. Robinson, 3 T. Boshoff, Middleditch 4-2 9-3 H 3: 1 T. Gibson, 2 A. Chambers, 3 B. Quick, Wills 1-5 10-8 H 4: 1 K. Middleditch, 2 J. Blankfield, 3 J. Dunn, Fuller 2-4 12-12 H 5: 1 H. Long, 2 K. Tidbury, 3 T. Boshoff, Plant 4-2 16-14 H 6: 1 P. Robinson, 2 K. Middleditch, 3 F. Wills, Quick 1-5 17-19 H 7: 1 T. Gibson, 2, A. Chambers, 3 B. Fuller, D Serrurier 1-5 18-24 |
H 8: 1 P. Robinson, 2 H. Long, 3 J. Bishop, B
Serrurier 2-4 20-28 H 9: 1 K. Tidbury, 2 F. Wills, 3 W. Plant, Quick 2-4 22-32 H 10: 1 Robinson, 2 Middleditch, 3 Fuller, D Serrurier 1-5 23-37 H 11: 1 H. Long, 2 T. Boshoff, 3 A. Chambers, Gibson F 5-1 28-38 H 12: 1 Plant, Dunn, Blankfield, Wills X, B Serrurier F,ns 1-5 29-43 H 13: 1 A. Chambers, 2 J. Bishop, 3 Boshoff, Blankfield 1-5 30-48 H 14: 1 T. Gibson, 2 K. Tidbury, 3 B. Quick, D Serrurier 1-5 31-53 |
|
| Heat Details - 2nd.Match at Benoni | ||
| 1: Fuller, Plant, D Serrurier,
Tidbury 72.3 (equals record) 4-2 4-2 2: Long, Middleditch, Boshoff, Robinson 4-2 8-4 3: Chambers, Wills, Quick, Gibson 71.9 (new record) 3-3 11-7 4: Middleditch, Fuller, Blankfield, Dunn 71.0 (new record) 3-3 14-10 5: Long, Plant, Tidbury, Boshoff 3-3 17-13 6: Middleditch, Robinson, Wills, Quick 1-5 18-18 7: Chambers, Fuller, D Serrurier, Gibson 3-3 21-21 |
8: Robinson, Long, Bishop, Wessman 2-4 23-25 9: Plant, Wills, Tidbury, Quick 2-4 25-29 10: Fuller, Robinson, D Serrurier, Middleditch 4-2 29-31 11: Chambers, Long, Boshoff, Gibson 3-3 32-34 12: Wessman, Plant, Wills, Dunn 4-2 36-36 13: Chambers, Bishop, Boshoff, Blankfield 1-5 37-41 14: Serrurier, Quick, Dunn R, Tidbury F 5-0 42-41 |
|
| Heat Scorers - 3rd.Match at Johannesburg | ||
| South Africa : Fuller (2,3,3,3) ; Serrurier (1,0,1,2) ; Long (2,3,3,1) ; Wessman (0,0,0,1) ; Wills (2,2,1,0) ; Quick (1,1,2,0) ; du Toit (0,2) ; van der Vyver (1,2) | England : Plant (3,2,3,3) ; Tidbury (0,1,0,1) ; Chambers (3,3,2,2) ; Gibson (1,2,0,0) ; Robinson (3,3,2,0) ; Middleditch (0,2,3,3) ; Bishop (1,1) ; Dunn (0,0) | |
| Heat Scorers - 4th.Match at Johannesburg | ||
| South Africa : D Serrurier (1,F,1,0) ; Fuller (3,F,3,2) ; Long (3,2,3,3) ; Boshoff (0,1,0,3) ; Wills (1,0,2,0) ; Quick (0,1,3,0) ; van der Vyver (2,2) ; du Toit (1,2) | England : Tidbury (0,0,1,1) ; Plant (2,3,0,3) ; Chambers (2,2,2,1) ; Middleditch (1,3,3,2) ; Robinson (3,3,2,0) ; Bishop (2,2,1,1) ; Gibson (F,2) ; Dunn (0,1) | |
| 5th.Match at Benoni | ||
| Alan Chambers set a new track record of 70.9 | ||
| 1949-50 | England won series 3-2 | ||||
| UNOFFICIAL | 15.12 : Bloemfontein | South Africa | 33 | England | 51 |
| 04.02 : Johannesburg (Wembley) | South Africa | 44 | England | 39 (Att : 12,000) | |
| 17.02 : Johannesburg (Wembley) | South Africa | 36 | England | 47 (Att : 12,000) | |
| 22.02 : Boksburg (Prince George Park) | South Africa | 49 | England | 35 (Att : 6,000) | |
| 25.02 or 03.03* : Johannesburg (Wembley) | South Africa | 41 | England | 43 | |
| Note : Henry Long's three maximums were the first by a South African in Test matches. | |||||
| * See programme, below left | |||||
| South Africa | Total | England | Total |  |
|||||||||||
| Henry Long | 11 | 10 | 12 | 12 | 12 | 57 | Ken Middleditch | 9 | 9 | 10 | 8 | 6 | 42 | ||
| Fred Wills © | 7 | 10 | 5 | 10 | 11 | 43 | Derrick Tailby | 4 | 8 | 10 | 5 | 10 | 37 | ||
| Alan Chambers** | 7 | 9 | 6 | 9 | 7 | 38 | Ron Clark | 10 | 7 | 8 | 4 | 5 | 34 | ||
| Syd van der Vyver | 2 | 6 | 3 | 6 | 3 | 20 | Jack Hodgson © | 7 | 5 | 8 | 9 | 5 | 34 | ||
| Doug Serrurier | - | 3 | 7 | 2 | - | 12 | Peter Robinson | 7 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 9 | 31 | ||
| Bob Serrurier | - | 3 | 2 | 4 | 2 | 11 | Harry Welch | 7 | 5 | 1 | - | - | 13 | ||
| Oscar Wessman* | 3 | 3 | - | 5 | 0 | 11 | Wal Morton | - | - | 4 | 3 | 6 | 13 | ||
| Toby Boshoff | 1 | - | - | 1 | 4 | 6 | Ted Gibson | 5 | 0 | 1 | 1 | - | 7 | ||
| Alec Gould | - | - | 1 | - | 2 | 3 | Dave Collins | 2 | - | - | - | 2 | 4 | ||
| Digger Filer | 2 | - | - | - | - | 2 | Maurice Fenton † | - | - | - | 0 | - | 0 | ||
| Joe Blankfield | 0 | 0 | - | - | - | 0 | † guest (Sth Af) | 5th Test at Johannesburg | |||||||
| * Oscar Wessman died following a crash in the final meeting. | ||
| ** Alan Chambers, top scorer for England in the previous series, changed his nationality | ||
| to South African in 1949. | ||
| Heat Details - 1st.Match at Bloemfontein | ||
| 1: Wills, Tailby,
Hodgson, Blankfield 3-3 2: Middleditch, Long, Robinson, Wessman 2-4 5-7 3: Clark, Chambers, Welsh, Vyver 2-4 7-11 4: Robinson, Gibson, Boshoff, Wills1-5 8-16 5: Long, Hodgson, Wessman, Tailby 4-2 12-18 6: Middleditch, Robinson, Chambers, Vyver 1-5 13-23 7: Clark, Wills, Welch, Blankfield 2-4 15-27 |
8: Long, Filer, Collins,
Middleditch R 5-1 20-28 9: Chambers, Hodgson, Vyver, Tailby 4-2 24-30 10: Middleditch, Wills, Robinson, Blankfield 2-4 26-34 11: Long, Welch, Clark, Wessman 3-3 29-37 12: Gibson, Hodgson, Chambers, Filer 1-5 30-42 13: Welch, Wessman, Collins, Boshoff 2-4 32-46 14: Clark, Tailby, Vyver, Blankfield 1-5 33-51 |
|
| Heat Details - 2nd.Match at Johannesburg | ||
| 1: Tailby, Wills, D
Serrurier, Hodgson 3-3 2: Long, Middleditch, Robinson, B Serrurier 3-3 6-6 3: Chambers, Clark, Welch, Wessman 3-3 9-9 4: Robinson, Wills, Vyver, Gibson 3-3 12-12 5: Tailby, Long, Hodgson, B Serrurier 2-4 14-16 6: Middleditch, Chambers, Robinson, Wessman 2-4 16-20 7: Wills, Clark, Welch, D Serrurier 3-3 19-23 |
8: Middleditch, Long,
Gibson F, Blankfield F 2-3 21-26 9: Hodgson, Wessman, Chambers, Tailby 3-3 24-29 10: Wills, D Serrurier, Middleditch, Robinson 5-1 29-30 11: Long, Welch, B Serrurier, Clark 4-2 33-32 12: Chambers, Vyver, Hodgson, Gibson 5-1 38-33 13: Vyver, B Serrurier, Welch, Gibson 5-1 43-34 14: Clark, Tailby, Wessman, D Serrurier 1-5 44-39 |
|
| Heat Details - 3rd.Match at Johannesburg | ||
| Ht. 1: 82.0 Tailby,
Hodgson, D.Serrurier, Wills. (1-5) 1-5 Ht. 2: 81.5 Long, Middleditch, vdVyfer, Robinson. (4-2) 5-7 Ht. 3: 84.5 Clark, Chambers, Welch, Gould. (2-4) 7-11 Ht. 4: 84.9 Robinson, Wills, Gibson. (2-4) 9-15 Ht. 5: 83.1 Long, Hodgson, Tailby, vdVyfer. (3-3) 12-18 Ht. 6: 84.7 Middleditch, Robinson, Gould, Chambers.(1-5) 13-23 Ht. 7: 84.9 D.Serrurier, Wills, Clark. (Welch F) (5-1) 18-24 |
Ht. 8: 81.7 Long,
Middleditch, Morton. (3-3) 21-27 Ht. 9: 84.1 Tailby, Chambers, Hodgson. (2-4) 23-31 Ht.10: 84.2 Middleditch, D.Serrurier, Wills. (3-3) 26-34 Ht.11: 82.1 Long, Clark, vdVyfer. (4-2) 30-36 Ht.12: 86.0 Hodgson, Chambers. (2-3) 32-39 Ht.13: 85.6 Morton, B.Serrurier, vdVyfer.(Gibson F) (3-3) 35-42 Ht.14: 85.5 Tailby, Clark, D.Serrurier, Gould. (1-5) 36-47 |
|
| Heat Details - 4th.Match at Boksburg | ||
| 1: Hodgson, Wills,
Tailby, B Serrurier 2-4 2: Long, Middleditch, Wessman, Robinson 4-2 6-6 3: Chambers, D Serrurier, Gibson, Clark 5-1 11-7 4: Wills, Robinson, Morton, Boshoff 3-3 14-10 5: Long, Hodgson, Wessman, Tailby 4-2 18-12 6: Middleditch, Chambers, Vyver, Robinson 3-3 21-15 7: Wills, B Serrurier, Clark, Gibson 5-1 26-16 |
8: Long, Middleditch,
Vyver, Fenton 4-2 30-18 9: Tailby, Hodgson, Chambers, Boshoff 1-5 31-23 10: Robinson, Wills, Middleditch, B Serrurier 2-4 33-27 11: Long, Morton, Clark, Wessman 3-3 36-30 12: Chambers, Hodgson, Vyver, Morton 4-2 40-32 13: Wessman, Clark, Boshoff, Fenton 4-2 44-34 14: Vyver, B Serrurier, Tailby, Fenton 5-1 49-35 |
|
| Heat Details - 5th.Match at Johannesburg | ||
| 1: Wills, Clark,
Hodgson, Serrurier 3-3 2: Long, Tailby, Morton, Wessman 3-3 6-6 3: Robinson, Vyver, Middleditch, Chambers 2-4 8-10 4: Wills, Morton, Boshoff, Collins 4-2 12-12 5: Long, Clark, Hodgson, Wessman F 3-3 15-15 6: Tailby, Morton, Chambers, Vyver 1-5 16-20 7: Wills, Robinson, Middleditch, Serrurier 3-3 19-23 |
8: Long, Tailby, Gould,
Collins 4-2 23-25 9: Chambers, Hodgson, Clark, Vyver 3-3 26-28 10: Tailby, Wills, Morton, Serrurier 2-4 28-32 11: Long, Middleditch, Robinson, Gould 3-3 31-35 12: Chambers, Collins, Hodgson, Boshoff 3-3 34-38 13: Boshoff, Middleditch, Gould, Collins 4-2 38-40 14: Robinson, Serrurier, Vyver, Clark 3-3 41-43 |
|
 |
||
| 1953-54 | England won series 3½-1½ | |||||
| 02.12*: Johannesburg (Wembley) | South Africa | 54 | England | 54 | Att: 9,000 | |
| 18.12 : Johannesburg (Wembley) | South Africa | 45½ | England | 62½ | ||
| 22.01 : Johannesburg (Wembley) | South Africa | 45 | England | 62 | ||
| 19.02 : Johannesburg (Wembley) | South Africa | 56 | England | 51 | ||
| 05.03 : Johannesburg (Wembley) | South Africa | 51 | England | 57 | ||
| * This meeting had been twice postponed on 27.11 and 30.11 due to rain. | ||||||
| The starting area at Jo'burg was tarmacced (as in the UK) for the first match, though by the 4th match it had reverted to cinders. England captain Freddie Williams missed the final match (though was non-riding captain in the pits) when he broke his collarbone on 26.02, when he collided with Brian Crutcher while racing for the South African Match Race Championship. Bill Kitchen was due to deputise as captain in the last match, but two days before the meeting he returned to the UK to visit his sick mother. | ||||||
| South Africa | Total | England | Total | |||||||||||
| Fred Lang | 13 | 11½ | 12 | 12 | 12 | 60½ | Brian Crutcher | 17 | 18 | 18 | 16 | 15 | 84 | |
| Henry Long | 12© | 11 | 12 | 16© | 9© | 60 | Freddie Williams© | 13 | 17 | 18 | 15 | - | 63 | |
| Harry du Toit | 13 | 5© | 7 | 3 | 12 | 40 | Dom Perry | 2 | 11½ | 8 | 5 | 13 | 39½ | |
| Fred Wills | 5 | 5 | 0 | 3 | 5 | 18 | Bill Kitchen | 13 | 11 | 8 | 5 | - | 37 | |
| Roy Bester | 1 | 4 | - | 6 | 4 | 15 | Ian Williams | 1 | 3 | 8 | 5 | 2 | 19 | |
| Alec Blankfield | 2 | - | - | 11 | 1 | 14 | Howdy Byford | 5 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 8 | 16 | |
| Doug Lang | 7 | 2 | 2 | - | - | 11 | Bill Griffiths | 2 | 2 | 0 | 3 | 4 | 11 | |
| Joe Blankfield | - | 6 | 2 | 2 | - | 10 | Reg Duval | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 8 | 10 | |
| Toby Boshoff | 1 | 1 | 6 | 2 | 0 | 10 | Gerry Hussey | - | - | - | - | 7 | 7 | |
| Doug Davies | - | - | - | - | 8 | 8 | ||||||||
| Bob Raw | - | - | 4© | - | - | 4 | ||||||||
| Heat Winners - 1st.Match at Johannesburg |
| h 1: H. Long, h 2: B. Crutcher 76.7 seconds (track record), h 3: H. du Toit, h 4: F. Williams, h 5: B. Crutcher, h 6: B. Kitchen, h 7: F. Williams, h 8: B. Crutcher, h 9: F. Lang 76.6 seconds (track record), h 10: D. Lang, h 11: F. Lang 76.4 seconds (track record), h 12: H. du Toit, h 13: F. Lang, h 14: B. Crutcher, h 15: H. Long, h 16: H. du Toit, h 17: B. Crutcher, h 18: D. Lang. |
| Heat Details - 2nd. Match at Johannesburg |
| h 1: 1 F. Williams, 2 F. Wills, 3 B. Griffiths 2-4 h 2: 1 B. Crutcher, 2 F. Lang, 3 T. Boshoff 3-3 5-7 h 3: 1 B. Kitchen, 2 D. Perry, 3 D. Lang 1-5 6-12 h 4: 1 F. Williams, 2 F. Lang, 3 B. Griffiths 2-4 8-16 h 5: 1 B. Crutcher, 2 R. Bester, 3 H. Long 3-3 11-19 h 6: 1 D. Perry, 2 F. Wills, 3 H. du Toit 3-3 14-22 h 7: 1 H. Long, 2 F. Williams, 3 D. Lang 4-2 18-24 h 8: 1 B. Crutcher, 2 H. du Toit, 3 I. Williams 2-4 20-28 h 9: 1 B. Kitchen, 2 J. Blankfield, 3 F. Lang 3-3 23-31 h 10: 1 F. Williams, 2 H. du Toit, 3 R. Bester 76.0 seconds (track record) 3-3 26-34 h 11: 1 B. Crutcher, 2 F. Lang, 3 J. Blankfield 3-3 29-37 h 12: 1 H. Long, 2 B. Kitchen, 3 D. Perry 3-3 32-40 h 13: 1 F. Williams, 2 F. Lang, 3 J. Blankfield 3-3 35-43 h 14: 1 B. Crutcher, 2 H. Long, 3 I. Williams 2-4 37-47 h 15: 1 D. Perry, 2 B. Kitchen, 3 F. Wills 1-5 38-52 h 16: 1 F. Williams, 2 H. Long, 3 R. Bester 3-3 41-55 h 17: 1 B. Crutcher, 2 J. Blankfield, 3 I. Williams 2-4 43-59 h 18: 1 (deadheat): F. Lang, D. Perry, 3 B. Kitchen 2½-3½ 45½-62½ |
| Heat Winners - 3rd Match at Johannesburg |
| h 1: F. Williams 75.6 seconds (track record), h 2: Boshoff, h 3: Crutcher, h 4: F. Williams, h 5: Kitchen, h 6: Crutcher, h 7: F. Williams h 8: F. Lang, h 9: Crutcher. Boshoff was excluded for dangerous riding, and Griffiths excluded for receiving outside assistance. h 10: F. Williams, h 11: Long, h 12: Crutcher, h 13: F. Williams h 14: Kitchen, h 15: C rutcher, h 16: F. Williams, h 17: F. Lang, h 18: Crutcher. |
| Heat Winners - 4th Match at Johannesburg |
| h1: H. Long, h 2: B. Crutcher, h 3: F. Lang,, h 4: A. Blankfield, h 5: F. Lang, h 6: H. Long, h 7: F. Williams, h 8: B. Crutcher, h 9: A. Blankfield h 10: F. Williams, h 11: B. Crutcher, h 12: F. Lang, h 13: F. Williams, h 14: B. Crutcher, h 15: H. Long, h 16: F. Lang, h 17: H. Long, h 18: I. Williams |
| Heat Winners - 5th Match at Johannesburg |
| h1: B. Griffiths, h 2: R. Bester, h 3: B. Crutcher, h4: H. du Toit, h 5: F. Lang, h 6: H. Long 75.5 seconds (track record), h 7: F. Lang, h 8: H. Long, h 9: D. Perry, h 10: D. Davies, h 11: H. du Toit, h 12: B. Crutcher h 13: G. Hussey, h 14: F. Lang, h 15: B. Crutcher, h 16: F. Lang, h 17: D. Davies, h 18: D. Perry |
 |
| 1956-57 | England won series 4-3 | |||||
| UNOFFICIAL | 30.11 : Bloemfontein (Railway Grounds) |
South Africa | 57 | England | 51 | |
| 07.12 : Johannesburg (Wembley) | South Africa | 58 | England | 49 | ||
| 15.12 : Port Elizabeth | South Africa | 46 | England | 57 | ||
| 28.12 : Cape Town (Goodwood Showgrounds) | South Africa | 50 | England | 57 | ||
| 19.01 : Bulawayo, Rhodesia | South Africa | 49 | England | 56 | ||
| 15.02 : Johannesburg (Wembley) | South Africa | 57 | England | 51 | ||
| 23.02 : Durban (Hoy Park) | South Africa | 49 | England | 59 | ||
| Important
notes: The British speedway press referred to this as a
5-match series, i.e excluding the matches at Port Elizabeth and Cape
Town, which were deemed unofficial. However, research carried out by Ken
MacLeod in the South African press - the Star (Johannesburg), the Rand
Daily Mail, the Natal Daily News, and Sapa (South African Press
Association) - has now confirmed that all seven matches were officially
part of the series. This series was run on tracks controlled by Buddy Fuller's South African Riders' Association, and outside the juridiction of the South African Control Board, who declared all the matches to be unofficial, and all the competing riders suspended. The England captain, Alan Hunt, died in a racing accident at Johannesburg on 01.02. Eric Boothroyd and Ron Mountford took over the captaincy for the final two tests. The 4th Test at Cape Town was only only the second meeting ever held at Goodwood. During the match Roy Bester set a track record of 71.0 sec, 51 mph. This was for 3 laps of the third-of-a-mile circuit. |
||||||
| South Africa | † | Total | England | † | Total | ||||||||||||
| Doug Davies | 17 | 14 | ? | 15 | 0 | 18 | 17 | Eric Boothroyd | 5 | 13 | ? | 6 | 15 | 11 | 7 | ||
| Henry Long © | 15 | 0 | ? | 7 | 7 | 18 | 14 | Ron Mountford* | 14 | 4 | ? | 10 | 16 | 11 | 11 | ||
| Roy Bester | 8 | 15 | ? | 16 | 8 | 13 | 9 | Alan Hunt © | 11 | 15 | ? | 11 | 11 | - | - | ||
| Neil Mortimer | 14 | 14 | ? | - | 6 | 5 | - | Peter Williams | 8 | 12 | ? | 10 | 5 | 5 | 8 | ||
| Arthur Duncan | 0 | 5 | ? | 6 | 6 | 0 | 4 | Jimmy Gooch | 7 | 0 | ? | 5 | 6 | 12 | 14 | ||
| Pat McKenzie | 0 | 7 | - | 3 | - | 2 | 0 | Jim Lightfoot | 0 | 4 | ? | 9 | 3 | 5 | 13 | ||
| Bev Bird (Rhod) | - | - | - | - | 9 | - | - | Nick Nicholls | 6 | 1 | ? | 3 | 0 | 7 | 5 | ||
| Roy Browning | - | - | ? | - | - | - | 5 | Vic Ridgeon | - | - | - | - | - | - | 1 | ||
| Toy Edwards | 3 | 3 | - | - | - | - | - | Dave Collins | - | - | - | - | - | 0 | - | ||
| Claude Warne | - | - | ? | - | 3 | - | - | ||||||||||
| Johnny Gander | - | - | - | - | - | 1 | - | * Mountford became © for final two Tests. | |||||||||
| Vern McWilliams | - | - | - | - | - | - | 0 | ||||||||||
| Malcolm Dean | - | - | ? | - | - | - | - | ||||||||||
| Dave Collins | - | - | - | 2 | - | - | - | ||||||||||
| Johnny Bekker | - | - | - | 0 | - | - | - | ||||||||||
| † Point-scorers for the 4th Test (Cape Town) are based on the slightly incomplete heat details shown below, and do not agree with the final scores. | |||||||||||||||||
 |
| The 1956-57 England Touring Team
Back - Jimmy Gooch, Eric Boothroyd, Ron Mountford, Peter Williams Front - Alan Hunt, Nick Nicholls, Jim Lightfoot |
| Heat Details - 1st.Test at
Bloemfontein (from the Bloemfontein "Friend"
1.12.56) heat 1: 1 H. Long, 2 A. Hunt, 3 R. Bester 4 2 4 2 heat 2: 1 D. Davies, 2 E. Boothroyd, 3 P. Williams 3 3 7 5 heat 3: 1 N. Mortimer, 2 R. Mountford, 3 N. Nicholls 3 3 10 8 heat 4: 1 D. Davies, 2 A. Hunt, 3 J. Gooch 3 3 13 11 heat 5: 1 N. Mortimer, 2 P. Williams, 3 E. Boothroyd 3 3 16 14 heat 6: 1 R. Mountford, 2 N. Nicholls, 3 R. Bester 1 5 17 19 heat 7: 1 A. Hunt, 2 N. Mortimer, 3 J. Gooch 2 4 19 23 heat 8: 1 H. Long, 2 R. Bester, 3 P. Williams 5 1 24 24 heat 9: 1 D. Davies, 2 R. Mountford, 3 N. Nicholls 3 3 27 27 heat 10: 1 H. Long, 2 R. Bester, 3 J. Gooch 5 1 32 28 heat 11: 1 D. Davies, 2 T. Edwards, 3 P. Williams 5 1 37 29 heat 12: 1 R. Mountford, 2 N. Nicholls, 3 N. Mortimer 1 5 38 34 heat 13: 1 A. Hunt, 2 D. Davies, 3 J. Gooch 2 4 40 38 heat 14: 1 N. Mortimer, 2 E. Boothroyd, 3 P. Williams 3 3 43 41 heat 15: 1 H. Long, 2 R. Mountford, 3 R. Bester 4 2 47 43 heat 16: 1 J. Gooch, 2 N. Mortimer, 3 A. Hunt 2 4 49 47 heat 17: 1 H. Long, 2 P. Williams, 3 R. Bester 4 2 53 49 heat 18: 1 D. Davies, 2 R. Mountford, 3 T. Edwards 4 2 57 51 |
| Heat Details - 2nd Test at
Johannesburg (from the Johannesburg "Star") Heat winners ONLY available: Ht.1 Roy Bester, 2 Peter Williams, 3 Neil Mortimer, 4 Doug Davies, 5 Pat McKenzie, 6 Roy Bester, 7 Alan Hunt, 8 Peter Williams, 9 Doug Davies, 10 Alan Hunt, 11 Doug Davies, 12 Eric Boothroyd, 13 Doug Davies, 14 Neil Mortimer, 15 Eric Boothroyd, 16 Alan Hunt, 17 Roy Bester, 18 Eric Boothroyd. Henry Long had bike problems and withdrew. |
| Heat Details - 4th.Test at Cape
Town (from the "Cape Times") H 1: 1 R. Bester, 2 H. Long, 3 A. Hunt, H 2: 1 R. Mountford, 2 D. Davies, 3 D. Collins H 3: 1 E. Boothroyd, 2 A. Duncan, 3 J. Lightfoot. H 4: 1 D. Davies, 2 A. Hunt, 3 D. Collins H 5: 1 P. Williams, 2 R. Mountford, 3 A. Duncan H 6: 1 R. Bester, 2 J. Lightfoot, 3 E. Boothroyd H 7: 1 N. Nicholls, 2 A. Hunt, 3 A. Duncan H 8: 1 R. Bester, 2 R. Mountford, 3 P. Williams. H 9: 1 D. Davies H 10: 1 R. Bester, 2 H. Long H 11: 1 P. Williams, 2 D. Davies H 12: 1 J. Lightfoot, 2 E. Boothroyd, 3 A. Duncan H 13: 1 A. Hunt, 2 D. Davies, 3 J. Gooch H 14: 1 P. Williams, 2 P. McKenzie, 3 A. Duncan H 15: 1 R. Bester, 2 J. Lightfoot, 3 H. Long H 16: 1 A. Hunt, 2 J. Gooch, 3 P. McKenzie H 17: 1 R. Mountford, 2 H. Long, 3 R. Bester H 18: 1 D. Davies, 2 J. Gooch, 3 J. Lightfoot |
| Heat Details - 5th.Test at
Bulawayo heat 1: 1 A. Hunt, H. Long (ef), A. Duncan (ef), N. Nicholls(ef) 0 3 0 3 heat 2: 1 C. Warne, 2 E. Boothroyd, 3 J. Gooch, D. Davies (r) 3 3 3 6 Davies withdrew from the meeting, replaced by reserve Bev Bird. heat 3:1 R. Bester, 2 R. Mountford, 3 N. Mortimer, 4 P. Williams. 4 2 7 8 heat 4: 1 B. Bird, 2 A. Hunt, 3 J. Lightfoot. three starters only 3 3 10 11 rerun: Warne jumped off bike to avoid fallen Lightfoot and taken to hospital. also withdrew from meeting. heat 5: 1 R. Bester, 2 E. Boothroyd, 3 J. Gooch,4 N. Mortimer 3 3 13 14 heat 6: 1 R. Mountford, 2 P. Williams, 3 A. Duncan, 4 H. Long 1 5 14 19 heat 7: 1 R. Bester, 2 N. Mortimer, 3 A. Hunt, N. Nicholls (ef) 5 1 19 20 heat 8: 1 E. Boothroyd, 2 H. Long, 3 A. Duncan, 4 J. Gooch 3 3 22 23 heat 9: 1 R. Mountford, 2 P. Williams, 3 B. Bird (three strters 1 5 23 28 heat 10: 1 H. Long, 2 N. Mortimer, 3 J. Lightfoot, 4 A. Hunt(ef) 5 1 28 29 heat 11: 1 1 E. Boothroyd, 2 J. gooch, 3 B. Bird (three starters) 1 5 29 34 heat 12: 1 R. Bester, 2 R. Mountford, 3 N. Mortimer, 4 P. Wiliams 4 2 33 36 heat 13: 1 A. Hunt, 2 B. Bid, 3 J. Lightfoot (three starters) 2 4 35 40 heat 14: 1 R. Bester, 2 E. boothroyd, 3 N. Mortimer, 4 J. Gooch 4 2 39 42 heat 15: 1 R. Mountford, 2 H. Long, 3 a. Duncan, P. Williams 3 3 42 45 heat 16: 1 R. Bester, 2 A. Hunt, 3 N. Mortimer, 4 J. Lightfoot 4 2 46 47 heat 17: 1 E. Boothroyd, 2 J. Gooch, 3 . Duncan, 4 H., Long (ef) 1 5 47 52 heat 18: 1 R. Mountford, 2 B. Bird, 3 P. Williams (three starters) 2 4 49 56 Captains match race challenge for Rhodesian Golden Helmet: H. Long bt A. Hunt (ef) 1-0 |
| Heat Details - 6th.Test at
Johannesburg *The Johannesburg "Star" lists heat winners only: 1 Henry Long, 2 Doug Davies, 3 Jimmy Gooch, 4 Doug Davies, 5 Nick Nicholls, 6 Henry Long, 7 Roy Bester, 8 Henry Long, 9 Doug Davies, 10 Henry Long, 11 Doug Davies, 12 Jimmy Gooch, 13 Doug Davies, 14 Roy Bester, 15 Henry Long, 16 Roy Bester, 17 Henry Long, 18 Doug Davies. *The UK Speedway Star has the following details, which do not agree with the individual point scores!(or with the Jo'burg Star!)Ht 1: Long, Boothroyd, Lightfoot, 77.0 Ht 2: Davies, Mountford, Nicholls, 76.1 Ht 3: Gooch, Bester, Williams, 77.1 Ht 4: Davies, Boothroyd, Lightfoot, Gander 77.8 (S.A. reserve Johnny Gander replaced Mortimer because of engine trouble in heat 4) Ht 5: Mountford, Nicholls, Bester, 79.9 Ht 6: Long, Gooch, Williams, 76.9 Ht 7: Bester, Boothroyd, Lightfoot, 78.2 Ht 8: Long, Mountford, Nicholls, 77.2 Ht 9: Mortimer, Davies, Gooch, 76.2 Ht 10: Long, Boothroyd, Gooch, Gander (fx) 78.0 (Gander replaced Arthur Duncan in heat 10) Ht 11: Davies, Mortimer, Mountford, 77.2 Ht 12: Gooch, Bester, McKenzie, 81.9 Ht 13: Davies, Mortimer, Boothroyd, 78.3 Ht 14: Bester, Mountford, Nicholls, 78.8 Ht 15: Long, Gooch, Gander, 77.6 (Gander again replaced Arthur Duncan in heat 15) Ht 16: Bester, Boothroyd, Lightfoot, 78.7 Ht 17: Long, Mountford, Nicholls, Gander 78.2 (Gander again replaced Arthur Duncan in heat 17) Ht 18: Davies, Williams, Mortimer, 77.8 The England reserve Dave Collins did not ride. |
| Heat Details - 7th.Test at Durban heat 1: 1 R. Mountford, 2 H. Long, 3 R. Browning 3 3 3 3 heat 2: 1 D. Davies, 2 E. Boothroyd, 3 J. Lightfoot 3 3 6 6 heat 3: 1 J. Gooch, 2 R. Bester, 3 N. Nicholls 2 4 8 10 heat 4: 1 D. Davies, 2 P. Williams, 3 R. Mountford 3 3 11 13 heat 5: 1 J. Lightfoot, 2 E. Boothroyd, 3 R. Bester 1 5 12 18 heat 6: 1 J. Gooch, 2 N. Nicholls, 3 R. Browning 1 5 13 23 heat 7: 1 P. Williams, 2 R. Mountford, 3 R. Bester 1 5 14 28 heat 8: 1 H. Long, 2 E. Boothroyd, 3 J. Lightfoot 3 3 17 31 heat 9: 1 D. Davies, 2 J. Gooch, 3 N. Nicholls 3 3 20 34 heat 10: 1 H. Long, 2 R. Browning, 3 P. Williams 5 1 25 35 heat 11: 1 J. Lightfoot, 2 D. Davies, 3 E. Boothroyd 2 4 27 39 heat 12: 1 R. Bester, 2 J. Gooch, 3 A. Duncan 4 2 31 41 heat 13: 1 D. Davies, 2 R. Mountford, 3 P. Williams 3 3 34 44 heat 14: 1 J. Lightfoot, 2 R. Bester, 3 A. Duncan 3 3 37 47 heat 15: 1 H. Long, 2 J. Gooch, 3 N. Nicholls 3 3 40 50 heat 16: 1 R. Mountford, 2 A. Duncan, 3 P. Williams 2 4 42 54 heat 17: 1 H. Long, 2 J. Lightfoot, 3 R. Browning 4 2 46 56 heat 18: 1 D. Davies, 2 J. Gooch, 3 V. Ridgeon 3 3 49 59 |
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| 1956-57 | In addition to the above matches, the England tourists rode two further matches: | |||||
| INTERNATIONAL CHALLENGE | 20.02 : Springs | South Africa Select | 39 | England | 33 | |
| ??.03 : Klerksdorp | South Africa Select | beat | England | (attendance 7,500 - estimated by Vic Ridgeon!) | ||
| 1 - Springs | ||||
| South Africa Select 39 Doug Davies 10, Roy Bester 10+1, Henry Long 9+1, Toy Edwards 4+2, Pat McKenzie 4, Claude Warne 2+1, Aubrey Long 0. England 33 Ron Mountford 11, Eric Boothroyd 8, Jimmy Gooch 6, Nick Nicholls 3+2, Jim Lightfoot 2+2, Peter Williams 2, Dave Collins 1. |
1: Mountford, Davies, Edwards 3-3 2: Boothroyd, Nicholls, H Long, A Long 1-5 4-8 3: Bester, Warne, Gooch, Lightfoot 5-1 9-9 4: Boothroyd, Davies, Edwards 3-3 12-12 5: H Long, Gooch, Lightfoot 3-3 15-15 6: Mountford, Bester, Williams, Warne 2-4 17-19 7: Davies, Gooch, Lightfoot 3-3 20-22 8: H Long, Mountford, McKenzie 4-2 24-24 9: Bester, Boothroyd, Nicholls 3-3 27-27 10: McKenzie, Bester, Gooch 5-1 32-28 11: Mountford, Edwards, Collins 2-4 34-32 12: Davies, H Long, Williams, Boothroyd F 5-1 39-33 |
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| 2 - Klerksdorp | ||||
| South African Select Top scorers: Henry Long, Roy Bester England Top scorers: Ron Mountford, Eric Boothroyd, Nick Nicholls, Vic Ridgeon |
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| © Captain |
| Contributors : Ken MacLeod, Maciej Wegrzyn, Ron Clark jnr, Bob Andrews, Charles McKay, Christian Weber, Duncan Luke, Phil Smith, Vic Butcher, David Austin |
© Brian Collins