Basil D' Oliveira, the South Africa-born English all-rounder, passed away in England on Saturday after a prolonged illness. He was 80.
D' Oliveira, a solid middle-order batsman and a useful medium-pace bowler, is also among the most cherished names in the cricketing folklore. His story travels way beyond the 2,484 runs at 40.06 and the 47 wickets at 39.55 that he returned from 44 Tests.
Denied opportunities in apartheid South Africa, a ‘cape coloured' D' Oliveira, was encouraged and guided by the famous broadcaster and cricket writer John Arlott, migrated to England in 1960. He went on to represent Worcestershire and was 34 when he made his Test debut in the England-West Indies Test at Lord's in 1966.
Such was his strength of mind and body that in a short span from 1966 to 1972, D' Oliveira managed to create a strong impression with his solid back-foot play and parsimonious (his economy rate in Tests was 1.95) seam bowling.
Principal actor
More importantly, D' Oliveira was the principal actor in the remarkable turn of events that eventually led to the South African cricket team being banned from international cricket in 1970.
Only after the forces for equality and peace, led by the legendary Nelson Mandela, put an end to the evil of apartheid in South Africa that the country returned to international fold against India in a landmark ODI at the Eden Gardens in 1991.
It was D' Oliveira's selection in the England team for the 1968 tour of South Africa that led to the then South African Prime Minister John Vorster, objecting to the cricketer's presence in the squad and England subsequently deciding to call off the tour.
Actually, those favouring sporting relations with apartheid South Africa appeared to have won when D' Oliveira was originally omitted from the 16-member squad despite scoring a match-winning 158 in the final Ashes Test of '68 that enabled England level the series.
Despite the influential century, he was ignored for a campaign that was close to his heart. It was in the lovely Signal Hills area around Cape Town that he was born. And in a land where equal rights were denied, the all-rounder was deprived of the right stage to showcase his skills. For long, he had suffered.
D' Oliveira admitted “he sobbed after hearing the news”, that he would not be travelling with the team to South Africa. Then, the door opened again.
In an extraordinary turn of events, paceman Tom Cartwright, a part of the South Africa bound team, suffered an injury and the selectors, under fire for omitting D' Oliveira in the first place, finally picked the all-rounder.
Fate favoured the all-rounder too during this phase. His name had not figured in the English list for the final Ashes Test, but an illness to top-order batsman Roger Prideaux meant he was roped in for match at the Oval. The rest, as they say, is history.
Chain of events
The cancellation of England's tour of South Africa set in motion a chain of events that gradually resulted in the nation being banished from the cricketing world.
Australia did tour South Africa in 1969-70, where gifted players such as Barry Richards and Graeme Pollock assumed centre-stage for the host.
Soon, the country that discriminated on the basis of colour found itself shunted out completely.
In his tribute to D' Oliveira, the Cricket South Africa Chief Executive, Gerald Majola, said, “'Dolly', as he was known around the world by an audience that went far beyond the game of cricket, was a true legend and a son of whom all South Africans can be extremely proud of.”
He added: “One can only imagine what he might have achieved had he made his debut as he should have done at the age of 20 on South Africa's tour of England in 1951.”
Indeed, the lion-hearted D' Oliveira, who kept the fire burning and surmounted daunting hurdles to carve out a distinguished career for himself away from home, has a prominent place in the game's history.
