Penguin Random House and The Book Lounge invite you to the launch of Too Black to Wear Whites: The Remarkable Story of Krom Hendriks, a Cricket Hero Who Was Rejected by Cecil John Rhodes’s Empire by Jonty Winch and Richard Parry.

André Odendaal will be in conversation with the two authors.

Event details

Date: Wednesday 5 February 2020
Time: 17:30 for 18:00
Venue: The Book Lounge, 71 Roeland Street, Cnr Buitenkant & Roeland Street, Cape Town
RSVP: booklounge@gmail.com or 021 462 2425 by 3 February 2020
Facebook event

Please join us at @book_lounge on 5 Feb for the launch of 'Too Black to Wear Whites: The Remarkable Story of Krom Hendriks, a Cricket Hero Who Was Rejected by Cecil John Rhodes's Empire' by Jonty Winch and Richard Parry, in conversation with André Odendaal. pic.twitter.com/nOlY3d2Y1z

— Penguin Books SA (@PenguinBooksSA) January 29, 2020

About the book

‘Highly readable and packed with fascinating historical detail, this is the compelling story of a ripsnorting South African cricketer whose career was smothered by the shameless colour prejudice of Cecil John Rhodes and his snobbish cronies. By turns formidable, sad, enlivening and enormously informative, this book pays Hendricks the honour that has long been his due.’ – Bill Nasson

William Henry ‘Krom’ Hendricks was the first sportsman to be formally barred from representing South Africa on the basis of race. Hailing from Cape Town’s Bo-Kaap, he played in 1892 for the South African Malay team against the touring English, who insisted that he was among the best fast bowlers in the world. This made his exclusion from South Africa’s tour of England in 1894 all the more unjust.

Ranged against Hendricks were virulent racism and a political alliance between arch-imperialist Cecil John Rhodes, Afrikaner Bond leader JH Hofmeyr, and William Milton, who controlled cricket at the Cape through the Western Province Cricket Union. Too Black to Wear Whites documents Hendricks’s tireless struggle for recognition and the public controversies around his exclusion. The book shows how Hendricks was further sidelined as club teams made up of different races were prevented from playing against one another, saving white players the embarrassment of being shown up by the country’s best fast bowler.

Considering his importance in South African sports history, surprisingly little is known about Krom Hendricks. The story of his life is told here for the first time in a fascinating drama that describes the formation of a segregated South Africa through the career of an exceptional cricketer who dared to test the boundaries of the system.

Categories Non-fiction South Africa

Tags André Odendaal Book events Book launches Cape Town Cricket Jonty Winch Penguin Random House SA Richard Parry Sport The Book Lounge Too Black to Wear Whites