Cricket in the Muslim Community from 1806 to 1903

Chapter 1: 

Cricket in the Muslim Community from 1806 to 1903  Before cricket became an organised sport in South African society,  cricket was already played in the Muslim community. The earliest report of cricket being played in the Cape Colony was in 1806 by a lawyer of Dutch descent, Dr Nahuys van Burgst, who was arrested by the British in the Cape Colony while he was on a secret and private assignment to Batavia (Indonesia). (Odendaal 2016) 

He would play cricket twice a week with the officers of the British artillery and light dragoons with whom he was on very friendly terms. These matches will be played at the level ground by the sea close to the lions’ tail of Lionshead. This is the area where the Green Point common and the Greenpoint Track is located today. 

The matches will start at about 12 o’clock and the teams would consist of more than the eleven constituted players that should be in the team. They would have up to thirty players in a team per match.   The ground that he referred to is the Green Point Common and the Green Point track. Odendaal (2016) reports in the 40th anniversary brochure the following: According to Rowland Bowen who writes in the Cricket: A History of its Growth and Development throughout the world that the Green Point Common and Green Point Track are second oldest cricket grounds in the world outside of Britain. The oldest cricket ground outside of Britain is the famous Eden Gardens ground in Calcutta in India. This area became the playing fields of the Western Province Coloured Cricket Board until it was declared a white residential area.    By 1810 Malays, Negros and whites was socializing together all assembling eager to get a view of the match and contest that is taking place.

 By 1870 cricket was played everywhere from the Green Point Common to the Parade in the centre of the colony to Rondebosch Common and Meidevlei in the Claremont district by the Muslim community. In 1873 it was reported that passengers that travelled on the Norseman that stop over in the Cape Colony was well beaten by a team of coloured players. 

In 1876 it was reported that our Muslim population has its knights of the willow also and some are very dexterous. (Odendaal 2016)  In 1880 cricket was played in all the Muslim communities that was formed along the Southern Suburbs, from Green Point Common to Simonstown. Where ever the Muslim community settled in the Cape Colony they would build a mosque and Madrassa and it was normally from these institutions that sports clubs would emerge. In 1889 / 1890 the first inter-town tournament was held in Cape Town by the Muslim community. 

The Cape Town district and the Claremont district each entered a team. Two teams from outside of Cape town also entered in the tournament one from Johannesburg and one from Port Elizabeth. These matches were played at Newlands and thousands of spectators turned up to watches these games. The tournament was won by the Claremont District team. The organiser of this tournament was the president of the Cape Town district union Abdol Burns who was a prominent Muslim leader at the time.  

Some of the stars that emerged from this tournament were the fast-bowlers E Ariefdien and H ‘Krom’ Hendricks and the batsman L Samsodien. These players that were already household names in the Muslim cricket fraternity at the time became even more popular, because they’ve proofed themselves to be worthy opposition in matches against and English touring team of 1891 and 1892. L Samsodien scored one of only three fifties that was scored in 22 matches played and H ‘Krom ‘Henricks was compared to be second to none against the Australian fast bowler ‘The Demon’ Spofforth. In 1894 H’Krom’ Hendricks was selected to tour to England but was not allowed to travel because he was prevented by Cecil John Rhodes to be included in the team as he wanted an all-white cricket side. This exclusion meant that players of colour had to wait 100 years before they could represent their country at cricket.  

Abdol Burns 1838 to 1920. Organizer of the first inter-district cricket tournament at Newlands1889 / 1890. This tournament consisted of four units namely. Claremont and Suburbs Union, Cape Town and Suburbs Union, and Johannesburg and Port Elizabeth each entered a team. The event that took place in Cape Town, at the Newlands cricket ground and was eventually won by the Claremont and Suburbs Union team. This event was the start of the South African Coloured Cricket Board and the first of its kind in the country. Which means that the first formal inter provincial match was played by the Muslim cricketers of the country. This also led to the formation of the Western Province Coloured Cricket Union that was formed in 1903. 


Abdul Basit the Egyptian Qari reciting at the Green Point Track 1965 The Green Point Track (commonly referred to as the Track) was a multi-purpose sports ground for non -white sport. Sporting codes such as, rugby, cricket, tennis, soccer and athletics were some of the codes, for non-white sportsman, that was played. I can remember attending a rugby test match at this venue, at the age of 10 with my older brother Marvie, between the South African Coloured Rugby Union and the South African African Rugby Union in the 1960’s. I can also remember my sister Rokaya Galant who was a great tennis player playing in the Western Province Coloured Tennis Union final against Francis Vries who attended Harold Cressy High School in 1968/69 at the tennis courts that was at the Track and  going to watch the Cape Minstrels performing at the 2de Nuwejaars (2nd New Year) festival and the great Egyptian Qari (a person that recites the Quran with its correct grammatical rules and from memory) Sheik Abdul Basit Abdus Samed performing at this Venue in 1965. The Track was a cultural Venue to the (Muslim) community that was mainly based in the Bo Kaap, District Six and Southern Suburbs areas of Cape Town.