Shalders was born in Kimberley, where his parents, John and Emily Shalders, owned the Halfway House inn from 1884 to 1925. He attended Kimberley Boys' High School.[1]
Cricket career
Shalders was a stroke-playing opening batsman whose impetuosity often led to his dismissal in the twenties or thirties.[2] His highest Test score was 42 in his second Test, when South Africa took a first-innings lead of 65 over Australia only to lose by 159 runs.[3] He made a valuable 38 when South Africa beat England by one wicket in the 1905–06 series.[2]
Shalders toured England with the South African teams in 1901, 1904 and 1907, playing 58 of his 88 first-class matches in England and scoring his two first-class centuries. In 1901 he was the South Africans' second-highest run-scorer, with 782 runs at an average of 30.07,[4] with a top score of 103 against Somerset.[5] In 1907 he scored 105 against Hampshire.[6] His highest first-class score in South Africa was 93, the highest score of the match, in an innings victory for Transvaal over Natal in 1903–04.[7]
He was also a fine fieldsman and useful bowler.[2]
