Sinclair the Striker

Sinclair the Striker by Jay

One of the greatest cricketers from South Africa during the late nineteenth and early twentieth century was Jimmy Sinclair.  Tall and naturally athletic, Sinclair was a powerful batsman.  He is often given credit for hitting the first test century ever for South Africa and is known for whacking some of the most powerful sixes ever witnessed.  Indeed, it is possible he hit the longest six in cricket history when he belted one out of the Old Wanderers cricket ground where it landed on an outgoing train!  He also became the first South African to make over 300 (301) in 1897 for G. Beve’s XI against Roodeport.  Sinclair wasn’t just a good batsman however, he was also a notable bowler – an all-rounder, who could be phenomenal on the right day.  As a teenager he had trounced Lord Hawke’s English team practically all by himself, scoring 157 points and taking all the wickets.  He was definitely the man to watch whenever the English or the Australians had to face South Africa.  In the first decade of the twentieth century, he would be joined by more talent on the South African team including Aubrey Faulkner and C.B. Llewellyn, and this would set the stage for some of the great matchups between these countries.  In 1910, the South Africans, with Sinclair leading the way, toured Australia for the first time.  Sinclair can actually be seen in some very rare footage from one of the tests on this tour.  The clip is very clear for its age.  It is a sunny day, and Sinclair is bowling against Warren Bardsley.  The non-striker is the legendary Australian batsmen, Victor Trumper.   Bardsley hits the ball and begins to run.  Trumper then runs past Sinclair in a mad dash to get to the other end of the pitch but is thrown out by one of the players who is out of frame (probably Llewellyn).  Ignominiously, Trumper falls as he is extending his bat and is then seen rising quickly to his feet where he seems to hitch up his pants before calmly turning around and walking off the field.  In the meantime, Sinclair is seen striding forward, perfectly composed and commending his fellow teammates by clapping, obviously pleased in this great moment of triumph by ridding themselves of Australia’s biggest threat.  It is unfortunate that this is the only known footage of Trumper in action (though some posed footage of him does exist).  However, here we see Sinclair, South Africa’s answer to Trumper, glorying in the moment, forever immortalized on this bright summer day so long ago in December, 1910.  It is interesting to note that when this footage was shot, Sinclair was past his prime though he still from time to time exhibited some of the form that had made him such a feared presence a decade before.   

Below are two pictures of Sinclair.  One is from my collection of tobacco cards, which dates from the same year as the Australian tour (1910).  The other is taken from Roland Bowen’s informative book on the history of cricket called Cricket: A History of its Growth and Development throughout the World.  I believe this picture is really representative of the man and his performance on the field.  In a way, it almost seems contemporary though it is well over 100 years old.  Sinclair looks formidable and intimidating  as he holds his bat high and leans over on his toes, almost as if he is about to topple onto the crease.  There is no question that he is not just protecting the wicket, but is fiercely determined to launch one of his thunderous sixes deep into the cosmos.  It is a picture full of undisciplined energy and raw strength.  Sinclair the striker is life captured at the pinnacle of one’s power.  It is brief, and it is momentary; however, for an instant, the scene captures an ephemeral glimpse of something immortal that transcends this single act of a man.  Sinclair stands out from everything else around him - the subdued, hazy background of buildings, phantom-like in appearance and seeming to want to melt into an obscure and forgotten past – the lone wicket, a three pronged fork planted in the ground as stark as the cricketer himself and yet remote, lonely and isolated within the scene - people in the dimness, but whose images are so deeply blurred that they may as well be  antique shingles or posts rather than breathing, thinking things that were once living and loved by relatives long dead.  The most startling image in the picture however, is Sinclair’s shadow.  As he leans over and prepares to wallop the ball out of the grounds, it almost seems to be rising up to consume him.  It is a grim irony indeed, that Sinclair would die young at the age of 36 on February 23, 1913.   And yet…  the picture defies this end of a man.  He seems to be struggling to burst forth from the diminishing scene, from the blurs and shadows of mortality and into something that strikes into the very core of the sun itself.