From Tarkastad’s dusty courts to Wimbledon lush
GOING from the dusty clay tennis courts of Tarkastad to the lush hallowed turf of Wimbledon in England is something many an aspiring young tennis player would dream about.
But for retired farmer Ivor Phillips, now living in Settlers Park in Port Alfred, this became a reality way back in 1956. It came about when a group of six talented young South African tennis players, including the legendary Sandra Reynolds and Buster Farrer, toured England to gain more experience.
Phillips teamed up with Farrer in the men’s doubles to qualify to play in this world-famous event. The pair managed to win their first-round match, but were then knocked out in the second.
They also hoped to play in the singles and had to qualify for this event as well. Phillips came up against the British junior singles champion and went down in a mammoth match that lasted five sets.
“But it was all an unbelievable experience,” he said.
On the eve of flying to England, Phillips came up against Gordon Forbes, who was later to become a Springbok, in the finals of the Kaffrarian men’s under-21 singles in King William’s Town. He managed to pull off a dramatic win.
But it all started long before this. One of four sons, Phillips started his education at the small Tarkastad school. It was already obvious in those early days that he was a talented all-round sportsman. However, it was only when he was sent to the famous Queen’s College in nearby Queenstown as a boarder that he really blossomed. It was at tennis that he made his immediate mark. He was soon selected to play in the first team and did so for six years before leaving school at the end of 1954. He went on to captain this team and was also awarded his honours blazer.
But Phillips was to excel also at both rugby and cricket. He played in both the first XV and XI, both for four years, captaining the cricket team for three. He was a versatile backline player on the rugby field and a stylish middle-order batsman. He was awarded his colours for cricket and his honours blazer for rugby.
More outstanding achievements were to follow. He did not captain his school’s rugby side, but did lead the Border schools team in his last year. He was selected to play in the Border Nuffield cricket team for four consecutive years, captaining the side for three of these.
It was during these years that Phillips came up against the talented Buster Farrer, who was fast making a name for himself at Dale College in King William’s Town, and was to go on to become a double Springbok in cricket and hockey. While competition between these two was fierce, they became lifelong friends.
It came as no surprise when Phillips was named head boy in his last year at school. On leaving school, he was offered a rugby scholarship by the famous Dr Danie Craven, of Stellenbosch University. But he never took this up as his father felt it was time for him to return to the family farm and join his brothers.
In between farming, there was still time for this illustrious sportsman to continue his career as he played tennis for Border’s senior side for eight years and cricket for four. Perhaps his most notable achievement at this stage of his life was that he was selected to play in the SA Country Districts cricket team for 19 years, 16 of these as captain.
On the farming side, Phillips’s farm in the Tarkastad district was incorporated into the Ciskei after 22 years. He then moved to the Molteno district where he continued to farm with cattle, merino sheep and his Dorper sheep stud, which he started in about 1978. Over the 21 years of farming in the Molteno district, he built up a successful operation before handing over to one of his sons, Leroy.
Phillips retired to Gonubie near East London in 1999 and it was there that he took up playing bowls. It was soon obvious that he had a talent for this as well as he represented Border seniors for six years. It was here that he met up with Farrer again on the sportsfield as the two played together.
He has since moved to Port Alfred with his wife, Leslie-Anne, and has played bowls for EP seniors for a year. The couple have four children and 10 grandchildren.