D'Oliveira left out
English selectors deny bowing to South African pressure to exclude non-white player
Simon Genikov By SimonBYBy Simon GenikovBy Simon GenikovBy Simon Ge The apartheid movement has boiled over into sport, as South African president BJ Vorster has now banned D'Oliveira from taking the field against South Africa. The moment when D'Oliveira was replacing the injured Cartwright was the moment speculation began about D'Oliveira being banned. This speculation turned to reality as BJ Vorster angrily banned D'Oliveira, as he believed that the MCC were 'people whose interests are not in the game but to gain certain political objectives which they do not even attempt to hide'. By this he meant that D'Oliveira had turned the MCC from a cricket team to an anti-apartheid movement. This caused much criticism from the South African media, apart from the for-government South African press. There was lots of support for D'Oliveira as so many people said positive things to him and also slamming BJ Vorster and the apartheid government. In fact, there was so much support that 'special arrangements' had to be made for D'Oliveira's mail, according to the Guardian. The Guardian went so far as to say this decision was 'an indication of the mental weakness of apartheid, which is a fetish rather than a policy'. Even after all this support, the tour was called off, as D'Oliveira was not allowed to play. This banning of the tour led to larger implications: 'The D'Oliveira affair of 1968 therefore marked the breaking off of English cricketing relations with South Africa and in led in due course to the complete sporting isolation of South Africa', Peter Oborne (author of Cricket and Conspiracy, The Untold Story) This was successful, as South Africa was banned from all major sporting events, until they were readmitted in the mid 1990s. This anti apartheid poster on the right, which is a primary source, was a view shared by many people who opposed this apartheid regime, when it interfered with sport. In this poster, it is seen that a man with a baton is striking someone on the ground. By 'their national sport' the people making this poster could mean that there is a bigger picture than one person being excluded from a squad, it is also the events happening outside of the cricket oval, such as the Sharpeville Massacre. This poster is trying to send a message that the issues that are going on outside of the D'Oliveira affair are more important, as people are getting abused, and now cricket is starting to get involved in issues that should not involve cricket. |
Many years later, after a coaching trip to South Africa, Oborne recounted the event when Mandela embraced and spoke these words to D'Oliveria: 'Thanks for coming, Basil. You must go home now. You've done your bit.' |
References
Masters, James. "Basil D'Oliveira: The Man Who Took on South Africa's Apartheid Regime." CNN. Cable News Network, 08 Mar. 2013. Web. 29 May 2014. <http://edition.cnn.com/2013/03/08/sport/cricket-basil-doliveira-apartheid-south-africa/>.
Williamson, Martin, Mr. "The D'Oliveira Affair." Global News RSS. ESPN, 13 Sept. 2008. Web. 29 May 2014. <http://www.espncricinfo.com/magazine/content/story/356092.html>.
Mason, Peter. "Basil D'Oliveira Obituary." The Guardian. Guardian News and Media, 21 Nov. 2011. Web. 29 May 2014. <http://www.theguardian.com/sport/2011/nov/19/basil-doliveira>.
"From the Archive, 29 August 1968: D'Oliveira Left out of England Cricket Tour of Apartheid South Africa." Theguardian.com. Guardian News and Media, 29 Aug. 2012. Web. 29 May 2014. <http://www.theguardian.com/theguardian/2012/aug/29/archive-1968-cricket-basil-d-oliveira-apartheid>.
Oborne, Peter. Basil D'Oliveira: Cricket and Conspiracy: The Untold Story.
London: Little, Brown, 2004.
Poster taken from <http://www.inminds.com/img/sa-anti-apartheid-poster.jpg>
Photo taken from http://www.thetimes.co.uk/tto/multimedia/archive/00234/1823479_Dolly_234266b.jpg
Masters, James. "Basil D'Oliveira: The Man Who Took on South Africa's Apartheid Regime." CNN. Cable News Network, 08 Mar. 2013. Web. 29 May 2014. <http://edition.cnn.com/2013/03/08/sport/cricket-basil-doliveira-apartheid-south-africa/>.
Williamson, Martin, Mr. "The D'Oliveira Affair." Global News RSS. ESPN, 13 Sept. 2008. Web. 29 May 2014. <http://www.espncricinfo.com/magazine/content/story/356092.html>.
Mason, Peter. "Basil D'Oliveira Obituary." The Guardian. Guardian News and Media, 21 Nov. 2011. Web. 29 May 2014. <http://www.theguardian.com/sport/2011/nov/19/basil-doliveira>.
"From the Archive, 29 August 1968: D'Oliveira Left out of England Cricket Tour of Apartheid South Africa." Theguardian.com. Guardian News and Media, 29 Aug. 2012. Web. 29 May 2014. <http://www.theguardian.com/theguardian/2012/aug/29/archive-1968-cricket-basil-d-oliveira-apartheid>.
Oborne, Peter. Basil D'Oliveira: Cricket and Conspiracy: The Untold Story.
London: Little, Brown, 2004.
Poster taken from <http://www.inminds.com/img/sa-anti-apartheid-poster.jpg>
Photo taken from http://www.thetimes.co.uk/tto/multimedia/archive/00234/1823479_Dolly_234266b.jpg