In 1888,
Sir Donald Currie agreed to sponsor the first
English cricket team to visit South Africa. The 15-man tour party included only nine players who were registered with county clubs and had played in first-class matches. Grieve was one of six additional players who made the numbers up. The team was called Major Warton's XI after its manager,
Major R. G. Warton, another occasional player. The
captain was future Hollywood actor
C. Aubrey Smith, who was then the captain of
Sussex County Cricket Club. Only two matches, both against a team called the South African XI, were eleven-a-side. These were subsequently recognised as the first
South Africa v
England Test matches. They were played at the
St George's Oval in
Port Elizabeth and the
Newlands Cricket Ground in
Cape Town; England won both convincingly.
Harry Altham said the standard of the England team was "about that of a weak county". Grieve took part in both matches and in three
innings, twice
not out, scored a total of 40 runs with a best score of 14*. He did not bowl. Grieve remained in South Africa for a time after the tour ended and is known to have travelled to
Johannesburg with his colleague
Monty Bowden. ==References==