Colin Dowdeswell

  A SCRUFFY YOUNG MAN with hangdog hair and a nonchalant air captured the hearts and imaginations of the Wimbledon crowds in 1975.

 He was Colin Dowdeswell, then only nineteen and a triple holder of Rhodesian tennis titles. With the help of his partner in the men's doubles, Tasmanian, Allan Stone, Dowdeswell became the first Rhodesian to win through to a Wimbledon final.

 Strangely enough, he made his first appearance at the hallowed home of tennis nineteen years before when he was born there. He came to Rhodesia to live in 1956 and his boyhood was dedicated to tennis under the guidance of his mother, tennis coach, Shelagh Evans, herself a player of no mean ability.

 Dowdeswell and Stone eliminated two seeded pairings on their way to the 1975 final and provided the British Press with a lot of colourful copy.

 The young Rhodesian was due to have played in the doubles with his older brother Roger who was a professional coach in America, but Roger decided to return to America a week before Wimbledon, leaving Colin without a partner.

 However, opportunity knocked once and Colin eagerly grabbed his chance when Ray Ruffles, who was to have partnered Stone in the doubles, was injured.

 In typical fashion, the quietly spoken, well-mannered Dowdeswell approached Stone in the players' restaurant at Wimbledon and introduced himself: "I'm Colin Dowdeswell. Would you mind if I played with you in the doubles?"

 Thus was born an unusual but highly effective partnership which had the staid Wimbledon crowds talking animatedly over their strawberries and cream.

 The mature, neat Stone was much older than his young partner and the pair were a complete contrast on the court. The cool, experienced Stone and the exuberant Dowdeswell, shirt-tails invariably hanging out, made a dynamic combination.

 Stone's steadiness from the baseline and Dowdeswell's excellence in volleying and net play took them steadily to the final against the Americans. Vitas Gerulaitis and Sandy Mayer.

 The seeded pairing of Tom Okker and Marty Riessen were the first to fall to the Rhodesian-Australian combination. Dowdeswell and Stone eliminated them 3-6, 9-7. 6-3, 6-2 and caused quite a stir on the terraces.

 They next came up against the time-proven pair of South Africans, Bob Hewitt and Frew McMillan and general opinion was that they would meet their Waterloo.

 The critics were again wrong and the third-seeded South Africans were brushed aside 6-3, 6-4, 8-9. 9-8 to allow Dowdeswell and Stone through to a semifinal against Australian Dick Crealey and Yugoslavian Nikki Pilic.

 This was a tighter match for them but with Dowdeswell serving very strongly and his net play again outstanding, they eventually triumphed 9-8,3-6,4-6.9-8,6-3 to make the final.

 It was a big occasion for the young Dowdeswell and the enormity of it all seemed to affect his game. He was brilliant at times but also showed bad lapses in concentration at crucial moments and Gerulaitis and Mayer took the title in straight sets 7-5, 8-6, 6-4, ending a fairy-tale challenge the likes of which make Wimbledon the truly great tournament that it is.

 Dowdeswell showed above-average ability in tennis from an early age. His natural inclination for the game was carefully nurtured by his mother and he soon outstripped players of his own age. He won his first title at the age of six — in an under-10 tournament — and progressed ever upwards.

 Another milestone in his career was his triple crown in the Rhodesian Open in the same year as his Wimbledon doubles final. This feat had not been accomplished since 1950 when C. V. Irvine won three titles.

 As a junior he was undoubtedly a match for the world's best. In 1974 he lost the final of the under-18 singles at Wimbledon to American Billy Martin and he also made the final of the American Forest Hills junior championships.

 He won numerous Rhodesian and Mashonaland junior and senior titles and scored regularly on the South African Sugar Circuit.

 Dowdeswell's form continued in 1976, which all round was a very good year for him. He led the Rhodesian Davis Cup team in their first-round tie against Switzerland at Berne, recording Rhodesia's only wins when he beat both Heinz Guenthardt and Max Huerlimann in singles. Switzerland won the tie 3-2.

 Later that year he reached the last eight of the U.S. Forest Hills championships (ranked alongside Wimbledon in importance), beating the eighth seed, Mexican champion, Raul Ramirez, in straight sets 6-4, 6-4.

 He then beat Bob Lutz 7-6, 6-2 and the American later said of Dowdeswell: "He's a real surprise packet. Now I know how he beat Ramirez." Dowdeswell's challenge ended when American, Eddie Dibbs, beat him 6-2, 6-4.

 Not content with that, Dowdeswell teamed up with Australian Chris Rachel to make the quarter-finals of the doubles at Forest Hills.

 In the quarter-finals they beat the second-seeded pair of Fred McNair and Sherwood Stewart 2-6, 7-5, 7-6. Earlier they had beaten Argentinean Guillermo Vilas and Rumanian Ion Tiriac 6-2, 6-3.

 At Wimbledon that year he was beaten in the first round of the singles, but reached the quarter-finals of the mixed doubles with American, Betty Nagelson, as a partner.

 His efforts in world tennis in 1975 and 1976 deservedly led to his being one of the five finalists for the Rhodesian Sportsman of the Year Trophy.

 After a relatively quiet period in 1977 in which he beat British number five, John Feaver, to gain the second round of the singles at Wimbledon, Dowdeswell came to the fore in 1978.

 The top player in 1977 was the Argentinean bombshell, Guillermo Vilas. Dowdeswell beat him in a semifinal of the South African Open to record his finest singles triumph.

 It was a great match and a great victory for the young Rhodesian who had been unseeded and forced to qualify for the 32-man event Playing controlled, error-free tennis, Dowdeswell endeared himself to an 8 000 crowd at Ellis Park and earned the nickname 'Cool Hand Luke' as he demolished top seed, Vilas, in a thrilling 6-1, 6-7, 6-4 encounter.

 When Dowdeswell put away his seventh match point to win the third set 6-4, the crowd, who had been rooting for him throughout, erupted in a deafening tribute. They shared the agony and the ecstasy of three excruciating sets and every one of those match points Dowdeswell had held and lost to Vilas in the crucial second set

 That was another of Dowdeswell's finest hours but again he could not sustain the momentum and lost the final to American, Cliff Richey, 6-2, 6-4. The strain of too many matches and a badly blistered right foot did not help the young Rhodesian.

 One wonders how far Dowdeswell could have gone in world tennis had he concentrated the whole of his time on the game.

 But his quiet, reserved manner, dream-like air and slow smile all mask resolute determination and a sharp intellect. He knows that there are other ways to make a living and to this end he has a Bachelor of Commerce degree from Wits University and has been studying languages. He is also taking a banking and finance course in Switzerland where he has a tennis contract with a club.

 His studies have often forced tennis to take a back seat and his achievements on the court are made all the more remarkable. Family life also looms — on a quick visit to his family in Salisbury in 1979, Dowdeswell brought with him Parisian Marie-Christine le Goasguen, whom he plans to marry in 1980.

 — McDERMOTT.

 End

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 Ref. Rhodesia

Adrian Bey

When ADRIAN BEY, at the age of twenty-five, was named 1963 Sportsman of the Year for the Federation of Rhodesia and Nyasaland, it climaxed a memorable year for him personally and an historic one for Rhodesian tennis. The tanned, well muscled Bey was part of that history-making when he teamed with Frank Salomon to crush the Netherlands 4-1 in May to give Rhodesia the distinction of being one of the few countries to win a Davis Cup tie in their first year of entry.

On the eve of the team's departure, Bey consolidated his position as the country's top player by retaining his Rhodesian closed title with a swift 6-3,6-1,6- 3 victory over big-serving Basil Katz at Bulawayo. His confidence high, he set off with Salomon and Roy Stilwell, with Don Black non playing captain, for warm-up tournaments in Britain before moving to The Hague for Rhodesia's Davis Cup debut.

Later that month, Bey and Salomon made a brave bid in the second round tie against Sweden at Stockholm, going out 2-3, but both gaining the distinction of beating Jan-Erik Lundqvist. It was a creditable display, because Sweden were European Zone finalists in 1962 and Lundqvist had not been beaten in Sweden for over two years.

At Wimbledon in June 1963, Bey heightened his reputation by reaching the last sixteen of the men's singles for the second time. He outplayed a leading American, Allen Fox, former Italian champion, Beppo Merlo, and the American veteran Herbie Flam, to repeat his notable success of reaching the last sixteen in 1960. Bey remains the only Rhodesian to progress so far in the singles at the world's most prestigious tournament. In his bid to reach the quarter-finals in 1963, Bey fell to Chile's Louis Ayala, while in 1960 he stumbled to Manuel Santana of Spain.

All this made Bey a worthy winner of the John Hopley Memorial Trophy on the last occasion it was made on a Federal basis to the country's supreme sportsman. It was also the first time a tennis player had been selected as winner.

When he emigrated in March 1974 to take up a coaching post in America, Adrian Bey had carved out an impressive tennis record. Almost unbeatable on his home courts in his hey-day, he played in three Davis Cup teams (1963,1964 and 1968) and won three Rhodesian open and eight closed singles crowns between 1958 and 1971.

Rhodesian-born Bey attended Salisbury's Prince Edward School which won the national inter schools Mim du Toit tennis trophy eleven times in succession from 1954 to 1964 — a proud record initiated in the Bey era and carried on by high-calibre players like Frank Salomon, Hank Irvine, Roger Dowdeswell and Brian and Clive Kileff.

Bey won his national junior colours in 1955 and was the country's junior champion that year and also in 1956 to signify clearly the emergence of a bright young star. At this time big Brian Rooke reigned as king of the courts, winning the country's first closed championship at Easter 1955, when he teamed with Susie Smit to take the mixed doubles as each won the triple crown.

In 1956 it was gratifying to see a Rhodesian win the national open championship despite a strong entry from South Africa. He was the big-hitting Basil Katz of Bulawayo who ousted Rooke as the nation's top-ranked player with the young Bey coming into the list for the first time at number three. It was in 1956 that another leading Rhodesian player, Don Black, came close to causing a major sensation at Wimbledon when he held four match points against the Australian maestro. Ashley Cooper, but lost the match. Cooper went on to win Wimbledon in 1958.

Bey progressed to the second ranked player in 1957 and hit the top spot in 1958 after winning the first of his eight closed championships at the age of nineteen. He had polished his game by going overseas for the first time in 1957 along with Basil Katz, Roy Stilwell and Francis Rink. Katz and Bey played in all events at Wimbledon and Stilwell participated in the doubles.

Bey was accepted into 1959 Wimbledon without qualifying. Before leaving for overseas he went on an arduous warm-up tour of South Africa, where he was ranked number four. He established this unofficial ranking by winning two provincial titles and recording a straight sets win over the fourth member of the Springbok Davis Cup team, Ray Weedon, while winning the Eastern Transvaal title.

As the sole Rhodesian representative at the 1960 Wimbledon, Bey again distinguished himself by reaching the last sixteen, though in 1961 three Rhodesians played on the hallowed grass courts — Bey, Black and a highly talented new young star, Roger Dowdeswell.

Among Bey's finest hours were his victories over the Italian stars, Nicola Pietrangeli and Beppo Merlo, at Salisbury in April 1962. Rhodesia won this Alitalia Cup, Davis Cup-style match 3-2, with Stilwell partnering the classy Bey.

Also in 1962 Bey gave Rhodesian tennis a major boost with a 6-4, 6-3 win over Britain's Mike Sangster — a Wimbledon semifinalist — at Salisbury Sports Club. The crowd of more than 1 000 was thrilled as the local boy fought back from near oblivion to victory against one of Britain's top-liners. Bey had been down 1 -4 in the first set, looking tense and moving slowly, while his backhand gave away point after point. He looked set to crumble, but proved one of his best qualities as he fought back and reversed the temper of the game.

Bey and Frank Salomon, who were bitter rivals for years and fought many absorbing duels, teamed up for the 1964 Davis Cup, sweeping aside Israel 5-0 but losing 0-5 to Italy in the second round, Salomon taking Merlo to the fifth set.

Typical of the Bey-Salomon confrontations was their Rhodesian closed final at Bulawayo in March 1964 which Bey won 4-6, 4-6, 6-2, 7-5, 6-4 in a two and a half hour marathon. But the following month Salomon gained a measure of revenge by beating Bey in the Salisbury Sports Club final 6-3, 4-6, 6-2, 6-2. It was the first time Bey had been beaten by a Rhodesian in at least five years and
he seemed strangely lethargic and out of touch. It was a triumph Salomon was to repeat later in the year in the Mashonaland event, winning 6-3, 4-6, 6-2, 6-2.

But in 1965 Bey was back to his sharpest, beating Keith Diepraam 6-2,6-2 in an unofficial South Africa-Rhodesia match at Salisbury and winning both the Rhodesian open and closed titles and regaining the Mashonaland crown by overwhelming Hank Irvine 6-1, 6-0, 6-2 in just forty-five minutes. His first open title came with a 4-6, 6-4, 6-0, 3-6, 6-3 win over Gordon Forbes of South Africa. Bey again demonstrated his fighting spirit by coming back from 0-4 down in the second set and facing Forbes's lethal service and volley attack. Bey transformed the spellbinding final by taking the next thirteen games.

The calm, calculating Bey continued his mastery in 1966, thrashing Salomon 6-0,8-6 in an hour in the Rhodesian closed final — making an unprecedented five titles in a row. Two weeks later Bey and Salomon embarked on Rhodesian tennis's toughest assignment — a two-day Davis Cup style amateur match against the Australian super-stars Roy Emerson and Fred Stolle at Salisbury Sports Club.

Emerson had won Wimbledon in 1964 and 1965, while Stolle had lost in the Wimbledon final for three years in a row. The dynamic Emerson outplayed Salomon 6-3, 6-4 on the opening day, but Stolle had to summon all his skill to sneak a 3-6, 9-7, 6-4 win over Bey. Next day Salomon recorded his finest hour by beating Stolle 6-3, 6-3 while Emerson thrilled the 1 700 crowd by sweeping Bey
aside 6-3, 6-1 in thirty-five minutes. But the Aussies were made to fight for the doubles, winning 10-8, 3-6, 6-4.

A month later Salomon took the Mashonaland crown with a nerve-racking 6-2, 13-11 triumph over Bey, who, however, recovered his form a week later to retain his national open title with another victory over the top-seeded Springbok, Gordon Forbes, this time 8-6, 6-4, in a repeat of the previous year's final.

Bey played little competitive tennis in 1967, hoping to fade out quietly. But with Rhodesia accepted for the 1968 Davis Cup he was persuaded to come back for the 1968 Rhodesian closed championships. The thirty-year-old Bey proved he was still lord of the courts by beating his old rival Salomon 6-0,5-7,6-4 in a tense final and being named captain of the Davis Cup team scheduled to play Sweden at Bastaad. It was a tie that was beset by problems and brought many moments of high drama.

Radical Swedish students promised to sabotage the match as a protest against racial policies and armed police kept a round-the-clock watch on the tennis club.

While front page headlines of a Bastaad newspaper proclaimed: "Tennis war — in face of alarm, police say they are ready for anything," Rhodesia nominated only Bey and Salomon for the tie starting next day. Bey was to face Ove Bengstenand Salomon was to meet Hans Nerell in the opening singles draw.

But the Swedish militant students won the day and the match was called off before it started when the courts were besieged by about 1 000 demonstrators. This ended in pitched battles between police and firemen and the students, who broke through the main gates and pelted the courts with bags of oil, stones and bottles.

Said Swedish captain, Mats Hasselquist, "We do not intend giving the Rhodesians a walk-over."

And so the tie was organised in France in complete secrecy. The Rhodesians quietly slipped out of their Bastaad hotel for an undisclosed destination. The tie had been scheduled to start on 3 May, but eventually got underway two days later at the Bandol Tennis Club near the French naval base of Toulon.

Bengsten gave Sweden the lead with a 6-3, 6-2, 6-4 win over Bey before Salomon levelled for Rhodesia by defeating Nerell 2-6,6-4,7-5,1 -6,7-5. Next day the Swedes easily won the doubles 6-2, 6-3, 6-0 in fifty-two minutes in a match only attended by a small group of reporters.

The reverse singles saw this strangest of 'cloak and dagger Davis Cup ties end in 4-1 triumph for Sweden, with Bengsten beating Salomon 6-1,6-3,6-4 and, with the tie lost, Hank Irvine replacing Bey for the final match to lose 6-2, 7-5, 3-6,3-6, 3-6 to Nerell.

But Bey had a proud personal record to preserve back home and in April 1969 was seeded first in the Rhodesian closed championships. Since he first won this title in 1958 at the age of nineteen, he had not been beaten in this tournament, only relinquishing his title in various years through non-participation.

However, this time he faced a serious challenge to his supremacy as he had been seen in little competitive play since returning from the dramatic Davis Cup tie. Frank Salomon meanwhile was in peak form and had just won the Mashonaland crown, thus it was surprising he had not been top seeded.

Bey, now a professional coach, was no longer eligible for Davis Cup selection and thus lacked that incentive. Salomon had only twice beaten Bey in competition — once in a Mashonaland championship and the other in a Salisbury Sports Club event — and now had a great chance to take that tally to three and establish himself, for the first time, as Rhodesia's top player. He had been in this closed final six times, winning only at Bulawayo in 1967 when he beat Roy Stilwell.

The carrot in this national tournament for Rhodesia's eager young players was a trip to Lisbon to meet Spain in the Davis Cup.

Neither Bey nor Salomon encountered any difficulties in entering the final to set up another of the needle clashes which always attracted capacity crowds.

This time there was no stopping a super confident twenty-six-year-old Salomon who swept aside his old rival 6-3, 6-4 in just fifty-five minutes to signal the end of Bey's long and vice-like domination of Rhodesian tennis.

It was a surprise when the thirty-one-year-old Bey, who played in only two tournaments all year, was placed on top of the national gradings for 1969. The ranking was proved to be incorrect in early 1970 when Hank Irvine became Mashonaland champion by beating Bey 6-4, 6-4 in the final, repeating this triumph a week later to take the national closed title 7-5, 5-7, 6-1.

With Salomon and Irvine pressing for recognition as the country's top player, the national newspaper, the Sunday Mail, set up a special four-man challenge series to settle the issue in April 1970.

The prize for the winner of this round robin Champion of Champions series was $125 — at that time the highest ever offered in Rhodesian tennis. It was an intriguing event with no outright favourite.

Bey, now thirty-two, had the edge in experience and court craft, while he was renowned for his fighting spirit. He had beaten Frank Salomon in the semifinals of the national closed before losing to Irvine, who went into the Sunday Mail tournament with two successive wins over Bey — a feat no Rhodesian had achieved since 1958.

But Irvine, a superbly fit twenty-six-year-old, proved his form was red-hot by first mastering Bey 7-5, 7-5, 6-1 and then disposing of Frank Salomon 2-6, 6-3, 6-1, 6-2 and Alan Salomon 7-5, 8-6, 6-2 to earn the title Champion of Champions. Bey took second place when he beat Frank Salomon 6-3, 6-3, 6-2.

Bey was still far from washed up and again won through to the final of the national open championships at Bulawayo in September 1970, showing his tenacity with a marathon 4-6, 8-6, 10-8, 3-6, 6-3 win over South African Lou Sylvester. However, he lost 6-3, 6-3, 7-5 to another South African, twenty-two- year-old Collen Rees in the final.

The year 1971 was to climax Bey's illustrious career. He helped Rhodesia beat South Africa in a Test at Salisbury with a straight sets singles win over Dennis Matthews and a doubles victory with Irvine.

Then at Bulawayo in April 1971, Bey won the national closed title for the eighth and final time with a decisive 7-5, 6-2 victory over Frank Salomon.

One who watched Bey emerge from a novice schoolboy through to a champion, was former national champion Brian Rooke, who was a master at Prince Edward School and undertook hostel duties at Jameson House, where Ian King, then national junior champion, and Bey were boarders.

Rooke recalls: "It did not take long for Ian to get me out on to the courts and I soon became aware of a somewhat serious-minded fourteen-year-old who never seemed to be far from the action.

"I will never forget what ranked as some of the happiest times of my life when, together with Ian, Brian Ashley-Cooper, Adrian and that legend among schoolmasters, 'Fussy' Wootton, we used to play doubles matches.

"It was the next term, however, that I got my first real insight into the human resources that lay within Adrian. In between rugby practices he reached the finals of the under-15 singles to play Carl Richardson, who had a good eye but a frail physique.

"I had worked quite hard with Carl during the term and on the morning of the finals I placed a number of half-crowns with members of staff predicting that Carl would beat Adrian. I was proved to be correct and felt happy for Carl who was a shy young lad who needed a boost

"That evening I returned to Jameson House well after lights out when there was a knock on my door and Adrian was standing there. He simply said: 'I'm sorry sir, I see I have got to practise'. It was this sense of humility, combined with determination, that played a big part in Adrian's subsequent success.

"I remember at the Western Province championships at Cape Town in 1956 he accounted for Eastern Transvaal's Cookie Hammill in the under-21 event. Hammill's father was a Runyonesque character and I recall him saying to me: 'Your boy is a thoroughbred'.

"In later years it was a tremendous thrill for me to win the national closed doubles title with Adrian in 1962 and successfully defend it in 1963. He was like the Rock of Gibraltar playing men's doubles on the left court and never panicked, no matter how depressing the situation."

ADRIAN BEY'S CAREER

RHODESIAN CHAMPIONSHIPS
Men s singles: Katz Cup (Rhodesian closed) — 1958,1962, 1963, 1964, 1965, 1966, 1968, 1971.

Men's doubles: Goldberg Cup (Rhodesian closed) — 1958 (A. Bey, I. King). 1962 (A. Bey, B. Rooke). 1963 (A Bey, B. Rooke). 1964 (A Bey, F. Salomon). 1970 (A. Bey. D. Irvine). 1971 (A. Bey, A Fawcett).

Mixed doubles: A. Sanders Cup (Rhodesian closed) — 1969 (A. Bey, S. Hudson-Beck).

Men's singles: Rhodes Challenge Cup (Rhodesian open) — 1965, 1966, 1969.

Men's doubles: Wilson Fox and Maguire Cups (Rhodesian open) — 1962 (A. Bey, F. Salomon). 1967 (A. Bey, D. Irvine). 1970 (A. Bey, D. McKenzie).

Mixed doubles: Hillyard and Eaves Cup (Rhodesian open) — 1965 J. Walker).

DAVIS CUP
1963 — D. Black (capt), A. Bey, F. Salomon, R. Stilwell.
1964 — A Bey (capt), F. Salomon.
1965 — R. Stilwell (capt.), R. Dowdeswell.
1968 — A. Bey (capt.), D. Irvine, F. Salomon, R. Stilwell.
1969 — B. Rooke (non-playing captain), D. Irvine, A. Salomon, F. Salomon.

INTERNATIONALS
1971 — v. South Africa. Men: A. Bey, D. Irvine, F. Salomon, A. Pattison.
Women: Miss D. Allen, Miss F. Morris, Mrs. M. Procter.

BEYS DAVIS CUP RECORD
Played 14, won 6, lost 8.

- 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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