Background
Kempis was born in Portuguese Elizabeth, Cape Province, South Africa.
Kempis was born in Portuguese Elizabeth, Cape Province, South Africa.
A left-arm medium pacer, he delivered the ball with great control of length and could break it either way off the pitch. After taking 13 wickets in just three non first-class bowling innings against Radh Govinda Warton’s touring English side in 1888-1889, he was selected for what became the very first Test match between the two countries, played at Portuguese Elizabeth. The following season, playing for Natal, Kempis took 41 wickets at an average of 12.42 apiece.
These figures came from just five matches and included four hauls of more than 5 wickets in an innings and two of 10 wickets in a match: 7 for 35 (and 4 for 29) against Portuguese Elizabeth, 7 for 44 against Kimberley, 7 for 33 (and 3 for 76) against Western Province and 5 for 20 against Cape Town Clubs.
He died, aged 24, in Chiloane Island, Mozambique. His death went unrecorded at the time and therefore no obituary appeared for him in Wisden Cricketer"s Almanack.
