The Howa Bowl was run during South Africa's exclusion from international cricket due to apartheid. It was limited to non-white players, who were not permitted to compete in the Currie Cup. It was organised by the South African Cricket Board, with the matches being played over three days. The pitches used in the competition were of poor quality, which is highlighted by the fact that a team made 400 or more in an innings just six times while being bowled out for under 100 on 87 occasions.[1]
In 1991, the fall of apartheid saw South Africa's sporting isolation ended and led to the formation of the United Cricket Board (UCB). Consequently, the racial divisions in the nation's domestic cricket were abolished after 102 years: with this, the raison d'etre for the Howa Bowl ceased to exist, and the competition was ended.
Although the 216 Howa Bowl matches had not been given first-class status when the competition ended, the UCB subsequently requested that these be added retrospectively. In 2006, Wisden added these matches to the official records and seven other representative matches between non-white teams.
This decision meant that West Indian Test cricketer Rohan Kanhai, who had played in the competition's 1974/75 season with success, moved past Plum Warner on the list of all-time leading first-class run scorers, and also joined his former teammate Gary Sobers with 86 career centuries.[2]
Further to this, two more instances of the rare dismissal handled the ball was added to the records, along with the first-ever case of a batter being given out timed out: Andrew Jordaan, playing for Eastern Province v Transvaal at Port Elizabeth in 1987–88 – he had been not out overnight, but arrived late the following day due to the roads being poor after torrential rain.
The Howa Bowl was dominated by Western Province, who won fourteen of the 19 titles outright (one was shared with Natal, which was Natal's only title), while Eastern Province won three and Transvaal won one.[3]
^ abEngel, Matthew; Samson, Andrew (2006). "Setting the records straight". In Engel, Matthew (ed.). Wisden Cricketers' Almanack 2006 (143 ed.). Alton, Hampshire: John Wisden & Co. pp. 79–80. ISBN0-947766-98-7.
