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Basil D'Oliveira

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Basil D'Oliveira
Personal information
Full name
Basil Lewis D'Oliveira
NicknameDolly, Bas
BattingRight-handed
BowlingRight arm medium
RoleAll-rounder, coach
International information
National side
Test debut (cap 432)16 June 1966 v West Indies
Last Test10 August 1972 v Australia
ODI debut (cap 3)5 January 1971 v Australia
Last ODI28 August 1972 v Australia
Domestic team information
YearsTeam
1960–1963Middleton C.C
1964–1980Worcestershire
Career statistics
Competition Test ODI FC LA
Matches 44 4 367 187
Runs scored 2484 30 19490 3770
Batting average 40.06 10.00 40.26 24.96
100s/50s 5/15 0/0 45/101 2/19
Top score 158 17 227 102
Balls bowled 5706 204 41079 7892
Wickets 47 3 551 190
Bowling average 39.55 46.66 27.45 23.56
5 wickets in innings 0 – 17 1
10 wickets in match 0 n/a 2 n/a
Best bowling 3/46 1/19 6/29 5/26
Catches/stumpings 29/– 1/– 215/– 44/–
Source: Cricinfo, 10 April 2008

Basil Lewis D'Oliveira CBE (4 October 1931 – 19 November 2011),[1] known affectionately around the world as "Dolly",[2] was a South African-born English cricketer. D'Oliveira was classified as 'coloured' under the apartheid regime, and hence barred from first-class cricket, resulting in his emigration to England. D'Oliveira played for the England cricket team in forty-four Test matches, and four ODIs. Despite his cricketing prowess, he was best known because of the "D'Oliveira affair", centred around his inclusion in the England side for a planned tour to South Africa in 1968.

Early life

Born in Signal Hill, Cape Town, as a boy he would make his way down to the Newlands cricket ground in Cape Town, and climb the trees outside to watch the games.[3]

D'Oliveira captained South Africa's national non-white cricket team, and also played football for the non-white national side.[4]

Career

With the support of John Arlott, and the members and supporters of St Augustine's Cricket Club in Cape Town, he emigrated to England in 1960, where the journalist John Kay found him a place in his Central Lancashire League team of Middleton.[1] D'Oliveira noted his surprise at seeing white people doing menial work, and waiting on him in restaurants.[5] He joined the first-class county Worcestershire in 1964 and became a British citizen. By 1966, he was being selected for England, as an all-rounder, and he was one of the Wisden cricketers of the year for 1967.

D'Oliveira played the first Test of the 1968 series against the Australians at Old Trafford, he was then dropped for the subsequent three Tests. He was recalled by the selectors for the final Test at the Oval and a century (158 runs in the first innings) against Australia seemed to have guaranteed his place in the side to play the 1968–69 Test series in South Africa.[1] He was left out of the touring party under the pretext that his bowling would not be effective in his native country. South African cricket officials, realising that the inclusion of D'Oliveira would lead to the cancellation of the tour and probable exclusion from Test cricket, exerted pressure on the MCC hierarchy and the decision not to pick him was felt by opponents of apartheid to be a way of keeping cricket links with South Africa open. There was dissent in the press to this course of events and when Warwickshire's Tom Cartwright was ruled out because of injury, D'Oliveira was called up into the squad.[1] South African prime minister B. J. Vorster had already made it clear that D'Oliveira's inclusion was not acceptable, and despite many negotiations the tour was cancelled. This was seen as a watershed in the sporting boycott of apartheid South Africa.[6]

D'Oliveira was a successful batsman with a low backlift and powerful strokes.[1] When he toured Australia in 1970–71 on the night after they won the series 2–0 he pushed his forefinger into the chest of every Australian he met, saying "We stuffed you".[7]

Legacy

In 2000, he was nominated as one of 10 South African cricketers of the century, despite not having played for South Africa.[8] In 2004, a perpetual trophy was struck for Test series between England and South Africa, and named the 'Basil D'Oliveira Trophy'. In 2005, he was awarded a CBE in the Queen's Birthday Honours.[9] In the same year, a stand at New Road, Worcester, was named in his honour.

In 1980 after the end of his playing career, he wrote an autobiography with the BBC's Pat Murphy, titled Time to Declare. In it, he stated for the first time that he was glad that the proposed South African cricket tour to England in 1970 was called off, for fear of public disturbances.[3] In 2005, journalist Peter Oborne wrote a biography entitled Basil D'Oliveira: Cricket and Conspiracy, which was accompanied by Paul Yule's RTS award-winning documentary Not Cricket—The Basil D'Oliveira Conspiracy.

Personal life

Married to Naomi, their son Damian D'Oliveira also played first-class cricket for Worcestershire, while their other son Ivan played briefly for Leicestershire.[4]

Death

D'Oliveira had Parkinson's disease in later life.[10] He died aged 80, in England, on 19 November 2011.[11][12][13]

References

  1. ^ a b c d e Bateman, Colin (1993). If The Cap Fits. Tony Williams Publications. p. 52. ISBN 1-869833-21-X. {{cite book}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |coauthors= (help)
  2. ^ Basil D'Oliveira dies aged 80
  3. ^ a b http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/cricket/15804126.stm
  4. ^ a b Thicknesse, John. "Player Profile: Basil D'Oliveira". CricInfo. ESPN. Retrieved 11 June 2009.
  5. ^ http://www.hinduonnet.com/thehindu/thscrip/print.pl?file=20050625006302200.htm&date=tss2826/&prd=tss&
  6. ^ Jon Gemmell (2004). The Politics of South African Cricket. Routledge (UK). ISBN 0714653462.
  7. ^ Snow, John (1976). Cricket Rebel. Hamlyn. p. 95.
  8. ^ Gough, Martin (29 November 2004). "D'Oliveira exposed apartheid disgrace". BBC News Online. BBC. Retrieved 11 June 2009.
  9. ^ "D'Oliveira 'proud' to get honour". BBC News Online. BBC. 10 June 2005. Retrieved 11 June 2009.
  10. ^ "Naomi's Story". Retrieved 4 November 2011.
  11. ^ "England news: Basil D'Oliveira dies aged 80 | England Cricket News". ESPN Cricinfo. Retrieved 19 November 2011.
  12. ^ "Basil d'Oliveira dies: Sport: Cricket". Sport24.co.za. Retrieved 19 November 2011.
  13. ^ "England legend D'Oliveira dies". news.bbc.co.uk. Retrieved 19 November 2011.

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