A Geordie All-Rounder: 36 - "Wherever ye gan, yer sure to find a Geordie"
...It was here one of the coincidences of a lifetime happened. I was having a stroll down one of the main streets when I spotted someone I thought I knew from my young days in South Shields. It was in fact Ken Smith, a Cleadon Juniors footballer who was on Sunderland's books for some time as a centre-forward...
Malcolm Scott encountered a fellow Geordie in Captetown, South Africa.
In September 1966 I set sail on S.A. Oranje for South Africa from Southampton Docks. With flags flying on the dockside and emotional scenes from departing families I left for my coaching adventure.
On board were my Northampton colleague Albert Lightfoot, Somerset and England fast bowler Fred Rumsey and Basil D'Olivera and family, who were returning to Cape Town for the first time since he left his homeland to be a very successful all rounder for Worcestershire and England.
The voyage took one and a half weeks. I made many friends and enjoyed the relaxed life on board the huge liner. Once we got to the Canary Islands the weather was much warmer, so there was swimming, net cricket and many outdoor things to do. We docked at Las Palmas where we had a day ashore. Many of the passengers returned on board with watches, sold at a good price only to find there were no workings inside the watch.
When we arrived in Cape Town, there was a huge gathering of people on the quayside to welcome Basil D' Olivera back home. The Cape Town boy, who made good on the cricket field, got a wonderful reception.
After seeing the sights of Cape Town, particularly the wonderful Table Mountain, it was anchors away again. This time up the coast to Port Elizabeth, where we had an overnight stop.
It was here one of the coincidences of a lifetime happened. I was having a stroll down one of the main streets when I spotted someone I thought I knew from my young days in South Shields. It was in fact Ken Smith, a Cleadon Juniors footballer who was on Sunderland's books for some time as a centre-forward. He couldn't get a regular place because of Dickie Davies and then Trevor Ford. He recognised me and just couldn't believe his eyes. "Wot yer deeing here man?" he asked in true Geordie fashion as if we had met on Newcastle Quayside.
Ken was now player/manager of a local football club. They had a match that evening and he invited me along. In the dressing room, before the game it was like the League of the Nations with English, Dutch and many Africans. "How do you manage this lot?" I asked Ken. "Especially with your Geordie accent?" "Easy" he replied "it's all body language. If that doesn't work, I just shout at them." So the song that goes "Wherever ye gan, yer sure to find a Geordie" was proved true.
The following day I was off up the coast to disembark at East London. Here I was met by one of the college staff who had an African with him to help with my baggage etc. They spoke to each other in Xhosa and Afrikaans which made me wonder had I made the right choice.
My welcoming colleague drove me the 150 miles inland to Queenstown, which I found to be a small town centred around the college with some farms nearby. After settling in my lodgings run by a lovely lady called Mrs. Duplessi, the next day I was introduced to the college and its staff by Mr Higgs - the Headteacher. At the end of a tour of the college he took me to one side, and gave me a cautionary word of advice about the dangers of apartheid and getting involved with any of the local coloured females. I could understand why because there were many good looking Cape coloured girls in the town. He emphasised this was South African apartheid, where mixing was prohibited or there would be, as he put it, "big trouble".
