The wealthy elite of the town saw a need for a sports ground for the public in the new town of Johannesburg. Around 1888 a deputation consisting of Hermann Eckstein, J.B. Taylor, Jacob Swart, Llewellyn Andersson and others rode to Pretoria to meet with President Paul Kruger.[2]: 647 He was shown a piece of land of 40 acres west of Joubert Park, but as the land was to be surveyed and sold as leasehold stands, he was concerned about the loss of income to the South African Republic.[2]: 647 A compromise was reached and 31 acres was set aside for a sporting ground with a 99-year lease and 25 pounds a year.[2]: 647 [2]: 115 The ground was first called Kruger's Park but was later renamed Wanderers Club, with Hermann Eckstein and its first chairman and J.B. Taylor as its vice-chairman.[2]: 115 When not used by the club, the grounds would be used as a public venue.[2]: 115 It was the venue for the Witwatersrand's first horse show, gymkhana and dog show in May 1891 and with a cycle track around the cricket ground people saw future world cycle champion Laurens Meintjes race.[2]: 148 And in November 1894, the Witwatersrand Agricultural Society would hold its first show at the Wanderers ground before moving it to Braamfontein where it would be later known as the Rand Show.[2]: 148 The grounds would host its first cricket test match on 2 March 1896 when South Africa played England.[3]
The South African sports journalist E. W. Ballantine described the playing surface as it was at the time of the Test match against the touring Australians in 1902:
The ground is a bare tract of land, dark red in colour, and in the centre of the Oval a green patch of cocoanut matting, 8ft. wide, is stretched and nailed down, each end about 6in. from the popping crease and outside it. The surface of the ground is hard, and consequently there is a tendency for the bowling to rise considerably. The fielding is generally true, notwithstanding that the presence of a few small pebbles would occasionally give the ball a little bit of hop. On a hot day the ground is naturally trying to the feet, while the dust, which is always more or less prevalent, has the effect of parching the players' throats ...[4]
By the late 1920s, the station passenger numbers south of the Wanderers grounds had outgrown its facilities. The new station would need additional land which was only available to the north and which was part of the Old Wanderers ground.[2]: 350 There was opposition to the idea by the people of Johannesburg when a 100 ft strip of the Wanderers ground was proposed with the South African Railways offering £31,000 and the club wanting the amount doubled.[2]: 350 The land was lost to the railways with the final amount settled on was £35,000[2]: 350
In 1936, the club purchased 200 acres in Illovo and established a golf course called Kent Park, name after its chairman Victor Kent.[2]: 381 This would later become the venue for the new Wanderers Stadium cricket ground.[citation needed]
By 1945, the Johannesburg Park Station had reached a capacity of 130,000 passengers a day and there was a need to expand the station's infrastructure with a new station, administrative buildings and a newer bridge over the railway lines and so the ideal land for the project was the Wanderers ground.[2]: 381 Transport Minister F. C. Sturrock would attempt to sell the project to the public while it was countered by the Wanderers Club and Johannesburg Publicity Association, representing about fifty other bodies.[2]: 381
The South African government would expropriate the Wanderers ground and after a legal appeal by those who disagreed, on 30 March 1946, the Appellate Division of the Supreme Court upheld the governments decision.[2]: 381 The Government would pay the Wanderers Club £500,000 in compensation and the Johannesburg Council £1,000,000 in the form of land at Plein Square, Kaserne and a small amount of land in Braamfontein and offset £300,000 owed by the council.[2]: 382
A railways-related test match record at Old Wanderers occurred when South African batsman Jimmy Sinclair hit the ball for six. It landed in a train standing at one of the platforms at the adjacent old Johannesburg station and was only discovered two days later in Cape Town. At approximately 956 miles, it must rate as the biggest six ever struck.[5]
International Centuries
From 1895 to 1939, twenty nine Test centuries have been scored.[6]
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