The Old Kingswoodian Club notes with sadness the passing of Denys Lawrence Hobson (OK 1969)

DENYS LAURENCE HOBSON, who died in Cape Town on November 21 aged 74, was a match-winning leg-break and googly bowler for Western Province who was especially effective at the province’s home ground of Newlands in Cape Town.

Of his 374 first-class wickets in 105 matches, no fewer than 265 (70.85 percent) were taken in 62 appearances at Newlands.

Denys prospered under the imaginative captaincy of Eddie Barlow, bowling at a brisk pace from the Kelvin Grove end and getting bounce, drift and considerable turn into the Cape’s prevailing south-easterly wind, which funnelled through a gap between the old pavilion and main grandstand.

His most notable match was in March 1976 when he took 14 wickets for 113 runs on the third and final day. Most of the second day had been lost to rain and Natal resumed on 58-0 in their first innings. Denys took seven for 52 and seven for 61, interspersed by a brief Western Province second innings before a declaration, as Western Province won by 74 runs.

His career-best innings figures of nine for 64 were taken against Eastern Province at Newlands in 1978/79.

Three of his five ten-wicket hauls in Currie Cup matches were at Newlands. He also took 12 for 221 in a match against the ‘rebel’ West Indians at Newlands in 1983/84 – although he had less success against them in two unofficial ‘Tests’, taking only two of the seven wickets which he claimed in four appearances for South Africa during the rebel era.

Denys was less effective in one-day cricket, although he took seven for 27 in a Gillette Cup match against Northern Transvaal in Pretoria in 1974/75, including a hat-trick and four wickets in five balls.

He was signed to play in Kerry Packer’s World Series Cricket in 1977/78. He and Graeme Pollock were the only two South African recruits who were not also playing professional cricket for English counties. Before they had played a game, Packer decided to cancel their contracts, paying them out in full.

Denys was presented with a special award by Mohair South Africa in 2024 for his outstanding contribution to the mohair industry. A trained accountant, he came from a farming family in the Eastern Cape and recognised the need for Angora goat farmers to add value to their mohair.

He established a business in Cape Town which eventually employed 120 people, manufacturing and marketing mohair products. As a former cricketer who had spent long days in the field, he collaborated with a German manufacturer in developing a sock which would keep feet dry and fresh. With an endorsement from Jonty Rhodes, the factory produced 300 000 pairs of mohair socks a month. (Colin Bryden – Obituary for Wisden)

Although he never had the opportunity to play an official Test for South Africa, retaining amateur status and playing in many unofficial tests, Denys Hobson is eternally regarded as one of the greatest — if not the greatest — spin bowlers the country has ever produced.