by Arunabha Sengupta
Denijs Morkel was a decent Western Province all-rounder hailing from the famous Morkel family of cricket and rugby stars. He played 16 Tests for South Africa during the late twenties and early thirties. He did produce some fine results on the 1929 tour of England. However, soon his health started failing and the tour of Australia in 1931-32 was quite forgettable.
He was also one of the few South Africans to play alongside black men in the segregation era.
Settling in England, Morkel was recruited by Julien Cahn. The eccentric, cricket-crazy, amateur magician, millionaire entrepreneur with his travelling team and pneumatic pads.
After the South African had scored 251 on his debut for the curious team, Cahn set Morkel up with a motor trade business in Nottingham. In return, the mild-mannered all-rounder turned in some fantastic performances.
When the Indians visited in 1932, Morkel did play against the dark-skinned cricketers, scoring 49 and picking up four wickets in an innings win. It pleased Cahn no end.
The following year, he played West Indies and Learie Constantine and Morkel dismissed each other in the match. He also played for Cahn’s team against the West Indians in 1939, when he caught both the great black cricketers in the side, George Headley and Learie Constantine.
Another South African recruited by Cahn was the incredibly multi-dimensional character Bob Crisp. Both Crisp and Morkel toured with Cahn’s side to play Ceylon and Malaya in 1937.
Of course, Morkel had more important things than colour to think about. This anecdote is being added here not to give the impression that he was otherwise racially biased. It is simply because as far as anecdotes go it is an irresistibly juicy one and the author cannot help himself.
It also shows that there were more important things than colour on Morkel’s mind.
A look at the scorecards tells us that it must have been during the 1935 season. Morkel was going through an unusually rough patch, and he was apprehensive that Cahn would not engage him the following season. It was the custom of Cahn to go through the scorebook at the end of the season and decide who was to stay and who was to part ways with his team. And Morkel’s motor business was linked to the decision if not totally dependent on it. It was Cahn who supplied Morkel most of his customers.
Hence, he hatched a plan with friend and teammate, the Nottinghamshire medium-pacer John Hall. At 2 am one night, Morkel and Hall left the luxurious hotel where the team was put up, and made for the cricket ground, breaking into the pavilion. Having retrieved the Cahn XI scorebook, the two ran out on to the shorefront and flung it into the sea. The records destroyed, Morkel continued in the side the following season.
Hence, there were more pressing things for Morkel to worry about than the colour of the skin of his opponents.
Denijs Morkel was born on January 25, 1906