Basil D'Oliveira - The D'Oliveira Affair

The D'Oliveira Affair

In 1968, 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. 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. The D'Oliveira Affair had a massive impact in turning international opinion against the oppressive apartheid regime in South Africa. It prompted changes in South African sport and eventually in society.