Quintin Mc Millan - Tour To England

Tour To England

On the 1929 South African cricket tour to England, McMillan took more first-class wickets, 91, than any other bowler and he also made 749 first-class runs, mostly batting in the lower-order. Yet he was largely overlooked for the Test matches, playing only in the second game of the five-match series, when Cyril Vincent was injured, and in the last game when the series was already lost. In early matches, he took five wickets for 36 in Glamorgan's second innings, but was overshadowed by Vincent's match figures of 11 for 89. And against Cambridge University he took five for 45.

McMillan's Test debut came at Lord's but as a bowler he was unable to make any impact, failing to take a wicket; he scored 17 in his only innings. His Test innings, according to later reports, included a hit for six off England captain and off-spinner Jack White which landed on the head of a lieutenant-general in the stands. Vincent was fit again for the third and fourth Tests, but immediately after the fourth Test, McMillan took eight first-innings wickets for 50 runs against Somerset and 10 for 86 in the match. This led to his recall for the final Test of the series at The Oval and, on a batsman's wicket, he did better than he had done at Lord's, taking three wickets for 78 runs in England's innings and then making an unbeaten 50 in a big South African total. This was to be his only Test match half-century.