Gerald Edward Peckover

They called HIM the 'little Indian'. The nickname was partly due to the fact that he had long, flowing locks, but for the most part, it was used in admiration for a youthful hockey player who was rated among the world's best strikers.

 Seven international caps by the age of nineteen were ample testimony to the outstanding ability of Gerald Edward Peckover, who was first selected to represent Rhodesia at hockey in 1972 when he was only sixteen.

 The Churchill schoolboy sat on the bench for both Tests against Malawi that year, but the occasion marked the start of a long and successful career in the international arena. Earlier, in 1972, he had played for the Rhodesian under-23 team and was given the captaincy of the Rhodesian Schools side.

 He did not have to wait long before actually playing his first Test for Rhodesia. In 1973 West Germany accepted an invitation to send their 1972 Olympic Gold Medal team to Rhodesia for a three-Test tour and Peckover made his international debut against the Germans at Salisbury Sports Club on 18 March — about two and a half months before his eighteenth birthday.

 Rhodesia was handed a 5-0 drubbing by the Olympic champions. While the result was considered disappointing, the seventeen-year-old Peckover had plenty to be pleased about He was rated the best Rhodesian forward and was hailed by the critics as a star of the future. Glen Byrom, who covered the match for the Herald, wrote of Peckover: "Churchill schoolboy Peckover is a star of the future. He has unequalled tenacity and has already developed his stickwork to a pleasing stage.

 "He also showed great enterprise, even under pressure, and was by far the best Rhodesian forward."

 Further internationals followed in 1973 — against Ireland at Old Hararians at Salisbury and at BAC at Bulawayo. Peckover also accompanied the Rhodesian team down to the South African Games at Pretoria where the young striker recorded another milestone — his first international goal, which he scored against Malawi in a 7-0 victory.

 Since then he has hardly looked back. At school he was a prolific goal-scorer and half-way through the 1973 season he had scored 35 goals for Churchill, easily breaking the record of 28 goals for a whole season.

 Later that year he led the Rhodesian Schools side on a nine-match tour of South Africa in which he showed his prowess by scoring 18 goals — exactly half of the team's total of 36. That season he scored a total of 139 goals; 2 at national level, 7 at provincial level, 31 in league. 21 for Rhodesian Schools, 8 for Mashonaland schools and 70 for the Churchill first team.

 Peckover really blossomed in 1974 when the Rhodesian team had a busy season and took part in an eight nations tournament at Johannesburg. Test experience had matured him as a player and his goal-scoring ability had been confirmed, as several world-class teams were to find out to their cost.

 As a left-hander, Peckover could catch defenders off-guard and his speed (he was a top sprinter and hurdler at school) and reflexes enabled him to turn the slightest of chances into goals.

 Spain, the European Cup champions, were seeded number one for the South African tournament and Rhodesia were seeded fifth. As luck would have it. the Rhodesians were drawn against Spain in the opening match of the tournament and the Spaniards quickly found out just how dangerous Peckover could be.

 The match set a pattern that would affect Peckover for the rest of his playing career. His class became so immediately obvious that the highly experienced Fabregas brothers, Jorge and Francisco (87 and 75 internationals respectively) were detailed to tight mark the young Rhodesian striker out of the game.

 Hard as they tried the Fabregas brothers could not bottle him up completely, but in every international since then, Peckover has had to contend with defenders briefed to keep him out at all costs.

 He has been deliberately fouled and often badly hurt but it says much for his tenacity that nothing short of a broken leg has stopped him going for goals at every opportunity.

 Peckover scored a brilliant goal which beat Spain in that first match at Johannesburg. Spain had in their goal Alberto Carrera, then without question the finest and most spectacular goalkeeper in the world. He made a fatal mistake in underestimating Peckover s capabilities. With the scores level at one goal each, Carrera was a little nonchalant in clearing a high ball pushed into the circle. His
 action was understandable in that there were no Rhodesian forwards close enough to present any real danger.

 But the Spaniard reckoned without the tenacity of Peckover, who covered the ground at an amazing rate to pick up the ball from Carrera's pads and send it screaming into the empty goal.

 It was the start of an outstanding tournament for Peckover. He scored Rhodesia's solitary goal to defeat Ireland, bagged another in a 6-0 thrashing of Malawi, and scored an extra-time goal when Rhodesia beat Spain for the second time to take the Bronze Medal behind South Africa and West Germany.

 A five-week tour of Europe followed in 1975. Peckover was the outstanding Rhodesian forward and invariably drew praise from the opposition for his dashing, imaginative and attacking play.

 He scored both the Rhodesian goals in two Tests against Belgium at Brussels, and laid on another in the match against France before scoring two in a 5-0 victory over the French under 21 combination. In the last international of the tour, this time against Austria, he scored one of the three Rhodesian goals and then scored the final goal in a 4-1 victory over the Austrian under-23 side.

 Peckover is without doubt the best striker Rhodesia has fielded, but all too often he has been a lone forager up front for the simple reason that no other Rhodesian striker could match his speed, stamina and determination.

 He has drawn high praise from other world-class players. German sweepers Michael Krause and Michael Peter both rated him among the best forwards they had played against. German official Werner Delmes said Peckover would walk into the West German team — high praise indeed, but very deserved.

 Rhodesian national hockey coach Mark Manolios, who has had a very close association with Peckover since 1972, says of the young striker: "Gerald has scored 70 to 80 per cent of Rhodesia's goals in the last five years. He is an extraordinary sportsman, possessing world-class talent... the type of player you only get once in a decade."

 It was such a pity that a player like Peckover was deprived of regular international competition because of the sporting isolation which stemmed from Rhodesia's political problems.

 Fortunately the twenty-four-year-old Peckover still has a lot of hockey left in him and in 1980, with the promise of renewed international contact becoming a reality, is bound to pass further milestones.

 Up until August 1980 — on the eve of a six-week European tour by the country — he had played in 37 Tests for Rhodesia and Zimbabwe and had scored 11 goals. But hockey is not his only forte. On 5 November 1977, Peckover made his debut for the Rhodesian cricket team in a Currie Cup match against Eastern Province at the Queens Ground at Bulawayo.

 And what a debut it was, with Peckover pushed into the role of night watchman when Rhodesia were struggling at 49-2. He played a completely responsible innings which ended just before lunch the following day, when he was out just seven runs short of a century.

 That season he batted 14 times for Rhodesia to score 289 runs at an average of 22,23. An accomplished wicket-keeper, he also took 17 catches and 2 stumpings.

 Hockey and cricket were his outstanding sports at school, and he was a member of the highly successful 1971 Rhodesian Nuffield team. To Peckover goes the rare honour of making the Rhodesian Schools cricket side for three successive seasons.

 His cricket fortunes dimmed in the 1978-79 season when after poor scores in the first two matches of the season, he was dropped but returned for the last Currie Cup game against Western Province at Salisbury. Thereafter cricket took a back seat and he played only one match in the 1979-80 season against Eastern Province at Bulawayo — Rhodesia's final fixture.

 But for Peckover, cricket was always a secondary sport, for his first love was hockey, at which he became a great Rhodesian sportsman.

- McDERMOTT.

 End

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 Ref. Rhodesia

  

Gordon Maxwell Allan Peake

Few MEN can claim an international hockey career spanning fourteen years and, during it play at as consistently a high standard as Gordon Maxwell Allan Peake did for Rhodesia.

'Alpal', a nickname that stemmed from his good nature, friendliness and sportsmanship, aptly summed up this genial hockey giant who was undoubtedly the crown prince of Rhodesian defenders.

After his debut for Rhodesia against Border in 1966, and an international debut against South Africa later the same year, Allan Peake went on to make a record forty-three Test appearances for his country.

Had circumstances been different and Rhodesian sport not been isolated because of United Nations sanctions. Peake could well have reached a hundred caps. A two-year spell in South Africa in the mid-70s caused him to miss at least twelve internationals for Rhodesia, which games would have taken him past fifty- one Test appearances.

Peake impressed onlookers whenever he played. There are few reports of him having had a poor game. Such were his reflexes on his 'wrong-hand side' that he was the bane of all attacking hockey players. He also combined a marvellous recovery ability with solid cover defence and he was able to turn defence into attack quickly by beating an opponent in the tackle and taking the initiative with controlled dribbling runs up midfield.

Peake was born at Fulham, England, on 12 September 1945 and came to Rhodesia with his parents when he was only nine months old. His hockey career began at Churchill School, Salisbury. By the time he was a senior, his game had progressed enough for him to make the Rhodesian Schools side in 1962, and he toured South Africa and Kenya with the team.

Since his first Test against South Africa in 1966, Peake became virtually an automatic choice at full back for Rhodesia. It was difficult to imagine the national side without him and his departure to South Africa in early 1974 was a serious blow, particularly with the eight nations tournament coming up and a tour of Europe the following year.

National hockey coach, Mark Manolios, who has been acquainted with Rhodesian hockey sides since 1951, maintained Peake was in world class and there were few visiting coaches who disagreed with him. "While it is always difficult to provide comparisons in the stature of players, I would say Allan Peake was one of Rhodesia's greatest players, if not the best," Manolios said when Peake left for South Africa in 1974.


Peake captained the Rhodesian side from 1972-74 and when he returned from South Africa in 1976 he again led the team after the departure of Dave West. He made two tours of Europe with the Rhodesian side, the first in 1967 and then again in 1970, by which time he had accumulated eleven international caps.

In Tests against West Germany, one of the top hockey-playing nations, Peake came to light, and their national coach, Hugo Budinger, rated 'Alpal' one of the best full backs he had seen.

Peake accompanied the Rhodesian Shumbas team on a tour of England in 1972 and his classy defence play again caught the eye. Hockey Scene, the official journal of the English Hockey Association, wrote: "Allan Peake, the current Rhodesian full back, was superb.

"His combination of speed and strength reminded one of Richard Oliver and what higher praise can there be?" (Richard Oliver was full back for Great Britain during the same era and was one of the world's great defenders).

During his spell in South Africa, Peake played for the famous Johannesburg club, Wanderers, and for Southern Transvaal, the strongest South African province.

His allegiance always lay with Rhodesia, however, and when the Rhodesian team took part in the eight nations tournament at Johannesburg in 1974, Peake was always there on the sidelines to give his support. His return to Rhodesia in 1976 delighted players and followers alike and prompted Mark Manolios to comment: "He's been one of our best-ever players and I still hold that view after watching him play for Wanderers in Johannesburg. It's great to have him back."

An honour for Peake was his selection in 1973 as one of the five finalists for the Rhodesian Sportsman of the Year award when squash star, Gay Erskine, carried off the John Hopley Memorial Trophy. He was again a finalist in 1979 when golfer Simon Hobday took the honours.

After a series against the Springboks, more praise was in line for the Rhodesian. Springbok captain, Neville Berman, ranked one of the best forwards in the world, rated Peake the best defender he ever had the 'misfortune' to play against.

In keeping with his outstanding ability, Peake's sportsmanship was exemplary. Illegal tactics were never part of his game although he was often the victim of brutal hacks from frustrated opposition forwards in their attempts to get past him.

His retirement in 1980, brought about by a desire to spend more time with his family and business and also to give the younger players a chance (he felt he'd had a good run and it was time to step down) left a hole in the national side that was difficult to fill.

Always the gentleman, Peake left hockey in the same way that he had entered the game — unobtrusively, with the minimum of fuss.

However, after a brief retirement — he missed Zimbabwe's first home series against Kenya in May — Peake was persuaded to return in June 1980 to face the world champions, Pakistan, in four Tests, three at Salisbury and one at Bulawayo.

Bob Mills led the team in the 2-2 series draw against Kenya, but Peake was restored to the captaincy to face Pakistan, whose captain Munawar Zaman, rated him as one of the three outstanding home players along with goalkeeper Dave Houghton and centre forward Gerald Peckover.

Certainly the Zimbabwe defence had ample opportunity to show their paces as Pakistan won the series 3-0, 5-1, 2-1,7-1. But Zimbabwe were never disgraced and responded well to Peake's leadership. He led by example and made several thrilling individual runs upfield after breaking down Pakistan attacks in the almost casual fashion that was his hallmark.

Peake was now again well established in the national team, but was available for home matches only. He felt the tours were for younger players. He continued his career when Holland arrived for an international series in Zimbabwe in July 1980.

He earned his fiftieth international cap in the third Test at Salisbury Sports Club against European champions, Holland, on 26 July 1980. It was a highly successful series for Peake — he scored both goals from corner play in Zimbabwe's 2-0 first Test victory at Bulawayo, and another corner goal in the second Test, which Zimbabwe lost 2-1.

McDERMOTT.

End

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Anthea Stewart

 When the strong-running eighteen-year-old left-inner, in her first year out of Salisbury's Queen Elizabeth School, crashed home her fifth goal of the match, it was clear a new Rhodesian women's hockey Springbok had arrived.

That 5-0 win over Border climaxed an outstanding first South African inter provincial tournament for the tenacious Anthea Allin (now Stewart) in 1963 at Port Elizabeth, where Rhodesia finished third. The teenage sensation, as she was labelled by the Press, and a second Rhodesian, wing Marlene Harding, were chosen for the Springbok team to go to Towson, Maryland, in America for the 1963 International Federation tournament — the 'Olympics' of women's hockey with about 400 players from 24 countries participating.

When Anthea Stewart retired from big-time hockey after playing all three Tests for South Africa against America in 1974, she had played in 25 internationals — every Test possible during the years she was chosen. She had achieved every honour the game could offer her and she was unquestionably among the finest players in the world in her era.

But the success story of this bubbling personality did not end there, for in July1980 she played a significant role in the nation's biggest sporting fairy-tale when she was coach to the Zimbabwe women's team that won the Gold Medal at the Moscow Olympics. And because Anthea had played half a game against India she was rewarded by being presented with one of the magnificent sixteen Gold Medals — the first ever struck for women's hockey in an Olympiad.

At the International tournament at Leverkussen, the Springboks lost only one game out of seven and so brilliant was the young Rhodesian that she was chosen by all the hockey writers there as a member of their 'World XI'. This was not only recognition as one of the best forwards at the tournament but also as one of the eleven best women's hockey players in the world in 1976. Springbok captain Angela Harrison was also in that 'World' team, while among the South African team at the tournament were Rhodesian Yvonne Robinson and the former Rhodesian Enid Spence, who had moved to the
Transvaal.

In July 1968 Anthea Stewart played a major role in the Rhodesian team's outstanding performance when they won the A Section of the South African inter- provincial tournament at Grahamstown — a feat comparable with Rhodesia winning the cricket or rugby Currie Cup (still unfulfilled dreams). Not only wasAnthea top scorer at the tournament, but she was one of only four players (out of almost 350) given an A grading. Yvonne Robinson's team clinched the title —Rhodesia's fourth triumph since 1933 — with a resounding 4-0 win over their closest rivals, Southern Transvaal.

Rhodesia's team at Grahamstown was: Denise Woodiwiss, Felicity Robertson (nee Hearn), Aileen Coetzer, Judy van Rensburg, Jill Morris, Robin Scott, Anne Esson, Beverley Forder, Georgie Lindeque, Diana van Zyl (nee Craig). Rosemary Southgate (nee Bevan), Yvonne Robinson. Anthea Stewart.

Then came 1969 — a grand year for Rhodesian women's hockey when the South African inter provincial tournament was staged at Salisbury Sports Club in June-July. It was only the third time the tournament had been held in Rhodesia, and the home team captained by Robin Scott (later Stewart), emerged thewinners. It was the second time Rhodesia had won the title two years in succession.

The team consisted of: Denise Woodiwiss, Felicity Robertson, Diana Fynn, Jill Morris, Robin Scott, Anne Esson, Aileen Coetzer, Rosemary Southgate, Diana Craig, Yvonne Robinson, Anthea Stewart, Cerise Lindeque and Beverley Forder with team manageress, Eunice Walls.

From the trials immediately following the tournament, Anthea Stewart and Yvonne Robinson were selected for the Springbok team which played Wales in South Africa in August of that year. Anthea was also chosen for the Springboks to play Australia in 1970, but had to withdraw for family reasons.

After a break while she raised a family, Anthea — who is married to Rhodesian diver Rob Stewart — returned to serious hockey in 1974 and played all three Tests in which South Africa made a clean sweep 8-0, 6-0 and 5-0 against America.

Fellow Rhodesians Denise Woodiwiss and Robyn Harley became new Springboks and also played in all three internationals, both excelling. Woodiwiss, who first played for Rhodesia in 1963 and gained her first Springbok trial in 1969, did not concede a goal in the series. She is also a Springbok softballer. Robertson scored in every Test and when the Americans drew 3-3 with Rhodesia at Salisbury she added another two goals to her Test tally of four.

After being world rated in 1967, it was mystifying that Anthea Stewart should not gain a place among the five finalists for the Rhodesian Sportsman of the Year award — won that year by Springbok Test cricketer Jackie du Preez. However, she was a finalist the following year, when motor racing champion John Love won the John Hopley Trophy.

Rhodesia has been one of the strongholds of Southern African women's hockey since first entering the South African inter-provincial tournament in Grahamstown in 1933, when Dolly Keey's team finished a creditable fourth. Women's hockey has been played in the country since the early 1900s, the first club being formed at Bulawayo in 1906. Rhodesia's Springboks down the years have been:

Rosa du Preez (later Hinde) — 1930 Empire Tournament in South Africa. Right wing.

Eileen Den (now McCluskey) — selected for the Springbok team to tour England in 1939. The team did not travel due to the outbreak of war and she never gained official colours. Centre half.

Sally Poole (nee Longbottom) — 1953 International Federation tournament at Folkestone, England. Left half.

Fern Dreyer (now Webster) — 1954 for Springboks in South Africa. 1956 I.F.W.H.A. in Australia. Centre forward.

Margot Boileau (now Oosthuizen) — captain of 1956 Springbok team to I.F.W.H.A tournament in Australia. Left back.

Joyce Gerrard — 1956  I.F.W.H.A. tournament in Australia. Right inner.

Joan Ringer — 1959 I.F.W.H.A. tournament at Amsterdam, Holland. Left inner.

Marlene Harding (nee Ferreira) — 1963 I.F.W.H.A. tournament in America. Selected for Springbok team to visit British Isles and Holland in 1965 but withdrew. Right wing.

Anthea Stewart (nee Allin) — 1963 I.F.W.H.A. tournament in America, 1967 I.F.W.H.A tournament in Germany. Played v. Wales in South Africa in 1969. Selected v. Australia in 1970 but withdrew. Played 1974 v. America in South Africa. Left inner.

Enid Spence (now Bush) — Toured British Isles and Holland in 1965. Selected v. Holland in South Africa in 1966. Centre forward.

Yvonne Robinson — 1967 I.F.W.H.A. tournament in Germany. Played v.Wales in South Africa in 1969. 1971 v. Holland in South Africa. 1973 v. New Zealand (2 Tests) and Germany (1 Test) in South Africa. Centre forward and right wing.

Elizabeth Chase — 1976 in South Africa v. Holland (3 Tests). 1977 in South Africa v. West Germany (2 Tests). Centre forward.

Denise Woodiwiss — 1974 played v. America in South Africa (3 Tests). Goalkeeper.

Robyn Robertson (nee Harley) — 1974 played v. America in South Africa (3 Tests).

Ann Grant (nee Fletcher) — played 1978 International Wanderers in South Africa (3 Tests).

BYROM.

End

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Cecil Victor Irvine

Most men battle to distinguish themselves in one sport. To do so in four takes an exceptional talent. Such a man was C. V. Irvine. His name will always be held in high esteem, for he was unquestionably one of the greatest all-round sportsmen Rhodesia has known.

At national level he excelled at tennis, hockey, squash and cricket while also playing provincial soccer. Although his greatest single achievement came on the hockey field as Springbok captain in 1948, it was as a front-rank tennis player that C. V. was best known.

He was five times Rhodesian singles champion from 1940 to 1950 and clearly would have gained more titles had not the War intervened and cut all championships between the years 1941 and 1945. In fact, during the 1940s Irvine lost only one national singles final — to Jimmy Mackay in 1946, though he turned the tables on his rival in the following year to regain his supremacy on the country's courts until 1951, when he lost to Francis Rink in the semifinals at Bulawayo.

Immediately after the War, when stationed in the SRAF at Bulawayo, Irvine became Matabeleland champion and played for Rhodesia against Tony Mottram's British tourists in 1947 and, two years later, against Geoff Brown and his Australians.

But the most thrilling match he ever played was against the great American Vic Seixas at Salisbury in 1950 and those who witnessed it will always remember the Rhodesian heroic fight against one of the world's top players.

The Americans, who had just completed a strenuous tour of South Africa, came to Rhodesia only after much persuasion, Mr. Eustace Fannin finally arranging their visit after direct approaches to the USLTA and SALTU had failed.

The visitors included Seixas, Art Larsen, Doris Hart and Shirley Fry — all of whom achieved fame on international courts. Seixas was Wimbledon champion in 1953, in the era of Sedgman and Drobny, and mixed doubles champion four times in a row from 1953 to 1956 — on the first three occasions as partner to Hart and on the last as partner to Fry. Hart also won the mixed title with Frank Sedgman in 1951 and 1952 and the women's doubles with Fry for three straight years (1951-53). Hart (1951) and Fry (1956) were also Wimbledon singles champions.

Rhodesia's team to oppose the mighty Americans was D. J. 'Podge' Morris, A. J. 'Jimmy' Mackay, C. V. Irvine, Basil Katz, Fat Davenport, Gwendy Love and Eve Sladden. Nearly 2 000 spectators crammed round the court at Salisbury Sports Club when, on a bright, sunny day, Irvine and Seixas walked out to play the mainsingles match. The crowd were soon in high spirits when Irvine surprisingly ran up a 5-2 lead in the opening set. But, serving strongly and racing up to the net, Seixas levelled at 5-5 before each held service until 10 games all was called by the umpire. Irvine held on tenaciously and clinched the set at 12-10 after eighty minutes of thrilling rallies.

It was champagne tennis and. sensing a home victory, the crowd were in a frenzy of excitement However. Seixas adjusted himself to local conditions and rattled off a series of devastating aces to clinch the next two sets and the match.

At that stage of his career Seixas had one weakness. Whenever he attacked on the backhand, his return went down the line and never across court — an early discovery that enabled the shrewd Irvine to win many points at net Subsequently Seixas perfected his backhand crosscourt and triumphed at Wimbledon.

It was a new standard for the Rhodesians to encounter. Recalls C. V. Irvine: "For us to play mixed doubles against Seixas and Hart was no different from playing two men. The two women in the visiting team gave a beautiful display of power tennis, but our own Eve Sladden played magnificently to take a set off Shirley Fry."

C. V. and R. Vincent were great rivals in Rhodesian tennis, with Vincent getting the better of the struggle until C. V. beat him in 1940 to take his first national singles crown. Irvine won this match 7-5, 6-4,3-6. 6-3 in the year that Miss Leila Franklin was a triple crown winner.

Tennis was a booming sport in the country and records show that in 1947 there were 47 clubs and 2 000 registered players — the days when Dunlop Maxply rackets cost seventy-six shillings and sixpence and the most expensive squash racket was thirty-five shillings. By 1948 there were 3 000 players in Rhodesia, growing to 4 401 in 1949 and reaching a peak of 5170 members affiliated to clubs in 1953.

The British team which visited Rhodesia in 1947 was: A. J. Mottram, A G. Roberts, Mrs. B. E Hilton, Miss J. Cannon and Col. D. H. Powell (manager). In 1949 the Australians visited South Africa and four of them played exhibition games in Rhodesia en route to Wimbledon. Geoff Brown, George Worthington, Thelma Long and Joyce Fitch were superior to the Rhodesians in all aspects and played at Bulawayo, Livingstone, Salisbury, Umtali and on the Copperbelt to stimulate further countrywide interest in tennis. Their only two official matches were at Salisbury and Bulawayo when colours were granted to the Rhodesians, led by 'Podge' Morris.

Cecil Victor Irvine was born on 16 August 1916 at Cape Town and came to Rhodesia at the age of two. He was educated at Salisbury's Prince Edward School where he was an all-round sportsman of distinction, a tradition he maintained on leaving school in 1934. He played first-league cricket and hockey for Old Hararians, tennis for Salisbury Sports Club and soccer for Alexandra Club. In the short time between 1936 and 1938 he won Mashonaland colours for all four sports, gaining his national cricket cap in 1936. It was to be his only match, for he had to choose between cricket and tennis as his summer sport and he chose tennis

Irvine played hockey for Rhodesia from 1937 to 1950, except for the War years, and captained the team from 1947-49. His proudest moment was in 1948 when he was chosen to captain South Africa in the only Test against the touring Oxford and Cambridge Swallows. The Springboks, who included a second Rhodesian, Harold Downey, the lightning-fast wing, won 3-2 at Johannesburg.

Although a South African Hockey Union team had gone to Kenya and Uganda in 1938 (Rhodesians in that team were S. Hatfield, B. B. Napier, HMM Mackenzie and W. H. S. Cary) no Springbok colours had been awarded Thus C.V. Irvine gained notable distinction when he led South Africa against the Swallows on 4 September 1948.

He was the first Rhodesian to captain a Springbok team in any sport and his players were the first to be awarded official Springbok colours for hockey Rhodesians Alf Sager was a reserve but did not gain colours, having to wait until 1951 for this honour.

The full Springbok team was: G. H. Surtees, G. P. Fenwick, S. F. de Wet R. M. Pearse, C. G. Mitchel, W. R. Endean (vice-captain), P. A. Dobson , J Pickerill C V. Irvine (captain), H. Downey and F. Hilder. The Swallows were led by R. M. Argyle.

When he retired from hockey, C. V. Irvine gained another notable achievement when he became a Springbok selector the first time a Rhodesian had been appointed a South African selector for any major sport.

Squash did not attract C.V. until comparatively late in his career in his career, but such was his natural ability at ball games that he won the Rhodesian title in 1947 and 1949. He lost his title in 1948 to his hockey team-mate, Harold Downey but turned the tables on his rival in 1949, only to lose again in the 1950 final to David Hodgson

A quiet, unassuming man whose manner was always exemplary on and off the court or field, C. V. Irvine was married in 1942 to Jean Lilian Fairlamb of Bulawayo. They returned to Salisbury from Bulawayo after the War and their two children, Hank and Barbara, were also to excel at tennis. Hank won two Rhodesian singles titles (1967 and 1972) and also played in the 1968 and 1969 Davis Cup teams. However, in the early 1970s Hank emigrated to America where he became a successful tennis coach.

C.V. has always taken a deep interest in coaching tennis and as the new decade of 1980 dawned he could still be seen daily instructing youngsters at the Postals Sports Club. Even during his playing years he would frequently give up his time to coach, and among those he helped was the big-serving Basil Katz of Bulawayo.

When C. V. made a belated first and only appearance at Wimbledon at the age of thirty-five he and Katz travelled together and were the first Rhodesians to compete in the championship on those hallowed courts. On the strange grass surface they were both eliminated in the first round.

But C. V. Irvine had already carved a niche as one of the finest all-round sportsmen Rhodesia has known and his prowess will continue to be a legend.

C. V. IRVINE'S CAREER

Tennis
Rhodesian championships - Singles: 1940, 1947,1948, 1949, 1950. No championships 1941-45. Men's doubles: 1939 (G. Hodder), 1940 (J. C. Crowther), 1949 and 1950 (both with A. J. Mackay). Mixed doubles: 1946 (L Holland), 1949 and 1950 (both with G. Love), 1952 (E. Sladden).

Internationals (for Rhodesia v. touring teams) — 1947 (Britain), 1949 (Australia), 1950 (America). Wimbledon - 1952.

Hockey
Rhodesia — 1937 to 1950 (except for War years). Captain 1947-49.
South Africa — 1948 (one Test, Captain v. U.K. Swallows).

Squash
Rhodesian championships — Singles: 1947 and 1949. Runner-up: 1948 and 1950.

Soccer
Provincial colours — Matabeleland (1937) and Mashonaland (1938).

- BYROM.

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