Cecil Victor Irvine, one of Zimbabwe's greatest allround sportsmen, died in Harare on March 11 at the age of 84. A legspinning allrounder, he made one appearance for Rhodesia, as it then was, in 1936-37, scoring 0 and 2 against Transvaal and failing to take a wicket. He was known as Vic, or Vio, the nickname coined to distinguish him from another Victor in one team he played for. He is likely to remain forever the only person to represent the country in four different sports. Best known for his tennis, he played in the men's singles at Wimbledon as late as 1952, but unused to grass he lost to the British No. 3 Ron Oakley in the first round. He also played hockey (captaining South Africa in 1948) and squash for the country, and football at a lesser level. He always named cricket as the most exciting and interesting sport he played. Born in Cape Town on August 16, 1916 of an Australian father and Scottish mother, his family moved to Rhodesia when he was two years old. He learned cricket from his father, who knew Sir Donald Bradman personally, and attended Prince Edward School in Salisbury (now Harare). He gave up cricket for tennis after the Second World War as he found he could make more money as a tennis coach (he also kept tearing his spinning finger) and his son Hank was a well known tennis player during the 1960s.
John Ward, The Cricketer