Basil D'Oliveira

Basil Lewis D' Oliveira CBE (born 4 October 1931 in Cape Town, † 19 September 2011, Worcester ) was an English cricketer.

Life

Because he was considered " colored " player was during the apartheid era in South Africa, he was automatically excluded from participation in first-class cricket, the highest form of play. However, he was captain of the non-white national team and also played for the non-white national football team of South Africa.

With the support of well-known British journalist John Arlott cricket, he emigrated in 1960 to Great Britain. He first came as a player at Middleton under, a team of Central Lancashire League, one of the better-known English amateur leagues. In 1964 he obtained British citizenship and was taken from the Worcestershire County Cricket Club, the first time was master of the County Championship this year, under contract. As one of the best all-rounder of the League, he was appointed in 1966 in the selection of the England team and the following year he was named one of the five Wisden cricketers of the year.

Although he was not originally included in the England team for the 1968 season, he was still put up again and seemed a Century of 158 runs ( points ) in the final Ashes test match against Australia its lineup for the planned during the winter season 1968/69 Test tour to have secured to South Africa.

Surprisingly, he was not taken into account, on the pretext that his bowling, ie his skills as a pitcher, was not good enough just for the playing conditions in his home country. The South African Association exerted pressure on the Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC ), which at that time was still ultimately responsible for the national team in order to prevent the use of D' Oliveira at all costs. It was feared namely that this would inevitably lead to the cancellation of the tour and ultimately even to the exclusion of South Africa Test Cricket.

His exclusion from the English team was then understood in the public like that. When a few weeks later had the Warwickshire player Tom Cartwright cancel due to injury, the person in charge had no choice, as D' Oliveira set up yet. By then, the South African Prime Minister Vorster mixed public in the matter and declared that they would not allow D' Oliveira play in South Africa. The MCC then said from the tour. Although Australia next winter still fought out a Test series in South Africa, have been canceled after each strong protests for 1970 in England and 1971/72 planned in Australia, South Africa tours. Only after the end of apartheid, the sporting relations were resumed.

In later years, D' Oliveira said that they had then offered him money to not participate in the tour. Last D' Oliveira health was badly hit. He suffered from Parkinson's disease and had to be maintained around the clock.

Since 2004, for test series between England and South Africa announced a trophy that bears his name, " Basil D' Oliveira Trophy". Also in 2004, a grandstand in Worcestershire Ground New Road was named after him. In 2005 he was awarded the British Order of the British Empire awarded (CBE ) and in the same year, the award-winning biography of Basil D' Oliveira: Cricket and Conspiracy by Peter Oborne.