5 facts about South African cricket history that you probably didn't know

South Africa is one of the oldest cricketing nations in the world, having joined international cricket in 1889, they became the third country after England and Australia to play the game.

Despite spending around two decades in the wilderness, South Africa remains one of the great cricketing nations and the country has a rich cricketing history that is the envy of many nations.

Many aspects of South Africa's cricket history is pretty well known but there are certain things that might not be as widely known and here are 5 of those.

#5 Cricket was established in South Africa by a Scotsman

South African cricket owes its existence to the efforts of this man.

The establishment of a formal first-class system in a country is the first step towards becoming a serious cricketing nation and usually, it is established by administrators of the cricket board.

However, in case of South Africa, it was quite different and it is indeed, hugely interesting that not only was the country's first-class tournament established through the efforts of one man but he was not even a South African.

A Scotish shipping magnate named Sir Donald Currie, who operated shipping lines in South Africa was the man behind the formalisation of cricket in the country. In 1888, he sponsored the country's first-class tournament and it was known as the Currie Cup for a long time.

However, even more importantly, Currie also sponsored the tour of the England team to South Africa in the same year and that helped establish the country as the third nation in international cricket. South African cricket owes its existence to the efforts of one man.

#4 South Africa's dominated Australia at home in an era

It wasn't always like this

Over the last quarter of a century, South Africa have been one of the best Test teams in the world and have beaten everyone since they were readmitted to international cricket.

However, quite inexplicably they have not been able to beat Australia at home in a Test series even once and in fact, they have been completely dominated at home by the Aussies. In the first series in South Africa back in 1993-94, two teams drew the three-Test series 1-1 and out of the next 6 series, Australia have won 5 of them.

The search for success against Australia continues, even though they have beaten them away from home twice and hence, it is perhaps one of the most beguiling records in world cricket at the moment.

However, just prior to their ban, South Africa had absolutely dominated Australia at home. In the 1969-70 series, they beat Bill Lawry's men 4-0 in a 4 Test series and three years before that, they beat Australia 3-1 in a 5 test series. It was a different era and for many who had seen that team, the plight of the later teams against Australia must seem a bit ridiculous.

#3 South Africa was the first team to have a spin quartet

Reggie Schwarz, the leader of the quartet.

Whenever one thinks of a South African bowling attack then the first few things that come to anyone's mind are pace, bounce and fury. However, that was not always the case with South Africa and in fact, in the early years of their existence as a cricketing nation, there was a time when the team was renowned for its quartet of spin bowlers.

At the beginning of the 20th century, South Africa put together a quartet of bowlers who specialised in bowling the googly and with them, they found unprecedented success. The leader of the pack was Reggie Schwarz, who taught the art of bowling the googly to all-rounder Aubrey Faulkner, batsman Gordon White and Bert Vogler.

Vogler bowled the googly but at a medium pace and the quartet took South Africa to new heights in that era. So, whenever anyone talks about the famous Indian spin quartet of the 1970s, it is important to keep in mind that the very first one was surprisingly South African and more successful.

#2 The oldest South African cricket ground is not the one many assume

South Africa play Australia at St. George's Park

Some of the most famous venues in South Africa are the Wanderers in Johannesburg and Newlands in Capetown and naturally, it is probably a fair assumption among many that probably one among those three is the oldest Test ground in the country.

However, that is not the case and the identity of the oldest Test match venue in South Africa is quite surprising since it is a ground which often does not get the big games.

The oldest cricket ground in South Africa is in fact at Port Elizabeth and St. George's Park also holds the distinction of having hosted the very first Test match played by the country back in 1889. It was a 3-day game but ended in two days as England beat South Africa by 8 wickets. Newlands hosted its first Test match in the same year and the same season.

#1 Their early record remains one of the worst in Test history

Unfamiliar feeling for the first few South African teams

Now, it is a well-known fact that when cricket teams first gain Test status then they would struggle for a period before actually finding their stride and a bit of struggle in the early days is not much of a surprise.

However, it takes a different colour altogether if a team continues to lose and struggles to put up any kind of fight. That being said, one would hardly expect a team like South Africa to have an early record that would put many other teams to shame.

Even the likes of India and Pakistan, who struggled massively in their early years managed to draw games when they first started out but that was not the case for South Africa.

In the first eleven Test matches that they played, South Africa lost 10 of them and managed to draw only 1, to have one of the worst early records among major Test playing nations and that is something that perhaps falls under the radar a bit, due to the success the team enjoyed later on.