 He played 45 consecutive Tests from 1902 to 1924 and while his batting was dogged rather than dynamic, career figures that show only one Test century and a batting average under 30 do scant justice to his value to his team.Nourse went to South Africa as a drummer with the West Riding Regiment in 1895 and stayed there, making his first-class cricket debut for Natal two years later.In his first Test, against Australia at Johannesburg in October 1902, he scored 72, and his first Test wicket followed in the next match.