W.R. Endean handled ball 3

When the M.C.C. arrived to begin their tour of South Africa in 1956, I was much looking forward to the Test series. In England in 1955, the Springboks had lost by three Tests to two, but they had come back from 2-0 down to level the series 2-2, before losing at The Oval. My hopes for them were therefore high. The first two Tests gave me an early education in sporting disappointment, to which I put down my robust temperament in these matters nowadays. One curiosity of those two Tests was that South Africa each time posted the same score in its second innings - this score being, I'm sorry to have to report, 72. Another curiosity was Russell Endean's dismissal in the 72 aforesaid of the second Test in Cape Town. These excerpts give you some picture of what happened:

After defending dourly for 40 minutes without adding to his score Endean played a ball from Laker with his pads. It spun upwards, some feet above the stumps[,] and subconsciously, as if to arrest its progress towards the wickets, Endean put out his hand and allowed the ball to fall into the palm. An appeal followed and for the first time in the history of Test cricket a batsman was given out "handled ball". - South African Cricket Annual 1957

Endean, the ball gone, did not immediately drop his right arm. He stood half bemused, as though aware that something had gone amiss, if not entirely sure what it was. Laker, equally, was momentarily at a loss. Then slowly, and, I am quite sure, somewhat unhappily, he turned to umpire Costello and very quietly asked his question. - Charles Fortune, The M.C.C. Tour of South Africa 1956-1957

Of course, Endean could have kicked the ball away, or breasted it, or even headed it. One explanation offered was that he instinctively reacted as a hockey player, a game at which he has captained South Africa. - E. W.Swanton, Report from South Africa

Evans and Laker appealed, and Endean was rightly given out 'handling ball' [sic]. For some obscure reason, it does not count to the bowler. - Alan Ross, Cape Summer

Endean, curiously, was concerned in the previous strange Test dismissal, being the wicket-keeper when Hutton was given out "obstructing the field" at The Oval in 1951. Endean might have made a catch had not Hutton knocked away the ball when trying to protect his wicket. - Wisden 1958

I was batting at the other end and realized that for the fraction of a second Endean did not realize what had happened to the ball... This appeal at Newlands, as the other at the Oval [in 1951], was perfectly in order and wholly justified. It just happens that these things don't often happen. - Roy McLean, Pitch and Toss

So much detail about the trajectory of a ball, a man's reaction to it and the reaction to his reaction by those around him. It makes you think: no wonder the universe is of infinite magnitude. How else could it accommodate everything?

[For links to the other posts in this series, see here.]