 Having finished his school career , Crawford joined the first MCC tour of South Africa in the 1905 – 06 season . The team was not particularly strong — before the tour , critics judged it to possess the equivalent strength of a moderate county side . The MCC was criticised by the press in both England and South Africa for omitting many of the strongest players . As the youngest member of the team , Crawford was given the traditional role of writing press reports to be sent back home during the tour . When the team played in Worcester during the tour , the local press carried a report that Crawford planned to remain in South Africa . The 1906 Wisden carried the same story ; in a comment on his success in 1905 , it suggested that it was uncertain for how long he would play , and questioned whether , if he played Test cricket , he would do so for England or South Africa . The cricket historian Nigel Hart queries why Wisden mentioned South Africa ; Crawford 's only known connection came through his uncle , who had left South Africa five years before . 
