The D’Oliveira affair was a prolonged political and sporting controversy relating to the scheduled 1968–69 tour of South Africa by the England cricket team. The point of contention was whether or not the England selectors would include a mixed-race South African player. The potential inclusion by England of a non-white South African in their tour party became a political issue. The MCC’s priority was to maintain traditional links with South Africa and have the series go ahead without incident. The controversy was the first to have a serious effect on South African cricket. The South African Cricket Board of Control announced its intention to remove racial barriers in South Africa cricket in 1969.
About D’Oliveira affair in brief
The D’Oliveira affair was a prolonged political and sporting controversy relating to the scheduled 1968–69 tour of South Africa by the England cricket team. The point of contention was whether or not the England selectors would include a mixed-race South African player. The potential inclusion by England of a non-white South African in their tour party became a political issue. The MCC’s priority was to maintain traditional links with South Africa and have the series go ahead without incident. South Africa’s Prime Minister B. J. Vorster sought to appease international opinion by publicly indicating that D’ Oliveira’s inclusion would be acceptable, but secretly did all he could to prevent it. The controversy was the first to have a serious effect on South African cricket. The South African Cricket Board of Control announced its intention to remove racial barriers in South Africa cricket in 1969, and formally integrated the sport in 1976. Meanwhile, the boycott movement escalated sharply, leading to South Africa’s near-complete isolation from international cricket from 1971, though the country continued to play international rugby into the 1980s. South Africa returned to international cricket in 1991, soon after apartheid began to be dismantled. During the first under apartheid, BBC commentator John Arlott was horrified when he saw a black man assaulted for no reason for several towns. This prompted him to visit several African towns and report the incident to the BBC. Only a few visitors noticed, and even fewer cared, that there was something wrong, and there was no reason to think there was anything wrong, says historian Peter Oborne.
The Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC) announced the tour’s cancellation on 24 September. It was to be the first time since 1948 that England had toured South Africa during the 1948–49 season. The tour was also the last time England had played South Africa in Test cricket under apartheid. Under apartheid, different races were kept apart in all aspects of life. From a cricketing viewpoint, the apartheid policy made little difference. Although cricket was played widely among the different racial groups in South African, the Test team, which represented the country in international matches, had always been all white. Under the government reasoning that black, coloured Indian players were inherently inferior and not worthy of selection. Different races were forbidden from competing against each other, but teams from England, Australia and New Zealand continued to visit South Africa, particularly owing to the quality of hospitality they received and the living quality of the living towns. The first time this happened was in 1948, when Australia and Australia visited South Africa under the first apartheid policy. In the 1950s and 1960s, the country was divided on racial lines, in common with similar settlements, and the various ethnic groups became more sharply defined and divided. The apartheid system was thoroughly enforced during the early 20th century, and it was passed to prevent the rise of communism, and laws, supposedly to prevent political agitation, were passed to prevented political agitation. The country was ruled by the National Party, led by Daniel Malan, formalised this racism under a government policy called apartheid.
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