International cricket in South Africa between 1971 and 1981 consisted of four private tours arranged by English sports promoter Derrick Robins, two tours by a private team called the "International Wanderers", and one women's Test match. The apartheid policy followed by the South African Governments of the day meant that no Test match playing nation was willing to tour, thereby depriving world cricket of leading stars such as Graeme Pollock, Barry Richards, Clive Rice and Eddie Barlow.
The road to isolation Sport in South Africa had been divided on racial lines since the early white settlers, and cricket was no different.
While Walter Read's Englishmen played against a non-white team, the Malays, in 1891-92, it would be 65 years before non-white South Africans played any other international cricket, with a team of Kenyan Asians touring against South African non-whites in 1956. However, with apartheid becoming ever stricter over time and being legally mandated in 1948, no non-white player was selected for the national Test team. This did not, however, stop white-majority Commonwealth nations from playing white South African teams at cricket.
The Basil D'Oliveira affair changed all that. D'Oliveira was a mixed-race South African (partly black – "coloured" under the Apartheid classification): as he was ineligible to play for his national side, he emigrated to England and played for them instead, going on tour to the West Indies in 1967. His performance on that tour was not impressive, and he was omitted from the Ashes Test squads in the following summer until the fifth and final Test at the Oval. He scored 158 in that Test, and was expected to make it into the team to tour South Africa in winter. When initially he was not selected, there was great controversy in England, with D'Olivera being left in tears at the news, and English Test selectors and cricket officials being accused of pandering to the racism of the apartheid regime in South Africa. Then, when a vacancy became available after Tom Cartwright broke down during a County Cricket match, D'Oliveira was selected in his place. Upon hearing of this, South African Prime Minister John Vorster responded to his selection by saying that it was not a team of the Marylebone Cricket Club, but of the anti-apartheid Movement: England's tour was eventually cancelled.
However, Australia did tour in 1969/70, with the Springboks whitewashing them 4-0, making them de facto world champions of cricket. After this triumph, they did not play another official Test match for 22 years. Their tour to England was called off in 1970, with England hastily arranging a tour by a Rest of the World team which itself included three South Africans and South African-born Tony Greig (who represented England in Test cricket).
In September 1970, Garry Sobers, the West Indies' captain and their best cricketer caused controversy by playing in a double-wicket competition in Rhodesia. Although Sobers spent only 48 hours in Salisbury, he had time for a meal with the prime minister, Ian Smith, and described him as a great man to talk to. Sobers' statement and his participation in the tournament caused backlash from Caribbean politicians who were vehemently opposed to apartheid and racism, with Guyanese prime minister Forbes Burnham saying Sobers was not welcome in his country until there was an apology, while the Jamaican government called for Sobers' resignation or ouster as captain, and the Indian prime minister, Indira Gandhi, barred the Indian cricket team from touring the West Indies until the matter was resolved. While Sobers initially argued that he had done nothing wrong as he was a cricketer, not a politician, he ultimately apologised in October 1970 when the scandal threatened to break up the West Indies Cricket Board.
In the 1970s and 1980s, the South African Cricket Board ran a competition called the Howa Bowl, which was contested between non-white teams.
1971 South Africa tried to tour Australia in 1971, even going as far as suggesting that two black players, Dik Abed and Owen Williams were part of the team. Abed and Williams rejected the proposal. The tour was cancelled by the Australian Cricket Board of Control amid safety concerns. Also in 1971 Englishman Colin Cowdrey wanted to take a racially mixed team to South Africa and play separate black and white national teams. However, the coloured Board rejected the idea and persuaded Basil D'Oliveira to distance himself from it. Frank Waring, the Minister of Sport, declared that if cricketers from club level upwards declared that they were in favour of racially integrated cricket and their authorities, "Came to me and stated that this was the position, then I am fully prepared to take this matter to Cabinet".
On 3 May 1971 the Rest of South African XI and Currie Cup champions Transvaal walked off the field at Newlands to protest against the government's sports policies. Charles Fortune, renowned South African commentator, suggested that it would be best to walk off instead of refusing to play which would effect the support for their actions. Players for South Africa included Graeme Pollock (captain), Mike Procter, Vincent van der Bijl, Peter Pollock, Hylton Ackerman, Denis Lindsay, Graham Chevalier, Arthur Short and Andre Bruyns. Players for Transvaal included Barry Richards (guest player), Brian Bath, Clive Rice, Peter Carlstien and Don Mackay-Coghill (captain). Ali Bacher did not play because he was making up hours at the Baragwanath Hospital for time taken for cricket. Bacher’s South African team had beaten Australia 4—0 in their 1969/70 Test series.
In another attempt to receive a touring international side to visit, the South African Cricket Association invited New Zealand to play three matches against multiracial sides when they were en route to England. However, New Zealand declined the offer.
DH Robins' XI January-February 1973 A women's Test team from New Zealand did visit South Africa at the start of 1972. In addition, Rhodesia, a country neighbouring South Africa that was also under White minority rule, attracted an International Wanderers side captained by England star Brian Close and that included nine Test players, one of whom was Basil D'Oliveira. They played just two games: a drawn game on 23-25 September 1972 and a 4-day match on 29 September-2 October 1972, which Rhodesia won easily by 411 runs, and did not tour South Africa. South African, Mike Procter, played for Rhodesia.
However the first "international" games played by South Africa post-isolation occurred after this. Derrick Robins, a millionaire businessman and chairman of Coventry City Football Club, had organised a number of private cricket tours in the past, arranged a tour to South Africa that took place between 1 January and 6 February 1973. His XI included many England Test players, who – unlike the 1981/2 South African tourists like Gooch and Underwood – did not suffer bans as a result of touring. Robins' aim was for his XI "to do so well that you will invite us back again". His players were also aware that England's Test selectors would notice how they performed.
There was some criticism of his decision to come to apartheid South Africa, which Robins dismissed by saying, "I do not want to answer political questions, but I'll say this: we are a team of English cricketers on a private tour, here to play anyone our hosts want us to play against." However, an attempt to mobilise opposition in England soon fizzled out.
The highlight of the tour was a 4-day game against a representative South African XI, the closest South Africa had come to choosing a Test squad since 1970. This game was changed to be the last one – highlighting that the tourists were treating their games seriously, rather than as a cricketing holiday. All the leading South African cricketers played, including many who had played Test matches before South Africa's expulsion from the world cricket community.
In this game DH Robins' XI won the toss and chose to field: that was a mistake as, courtesy of 100 runs from Barry Richards and 97 for Andre Bruyns, they piled on 387 runs. A strong all-round bowling performance saw DH Robins' XI get dismissed twice for under 160, with no player scoring more than 32, and the match end within 3 days. A 50 overs a side game was played on what would have been the fourth day. A tight match saw the South Africans edge home by one wicket.
DH Robins' XI team squad comprised: Tony Brown; David Brown; Frank Hayes; Jackie Hampshire; Robin Hobbs; David Hughes; Robin Jackman; Roger Knight; John Lever; Peter Lewington; Arnold Long; John Murray; Clive Radley; Mike Smith; David Turner; Peter Willey; Bob Willis;
South African International XI (effectively a South African representative team) comprised: Ali Bacher (captain); Eddie Barlow; Andre Bruyns; Jackie du Preez; Lee Irvine; Donald Mackay-Coghill; Ken McEwan; Mike Procter; Barry Richards; Peter Swart. Additionally, Vintcent van der Bijl played in the one-day match, but not the 4-day match; Rupert Hanley played in the 4-day match, but not the one-day match.
Date Result Venue Scheduledlength 1,2,3 Jan DH Robins' XI (306-4d & 135) lost to Eastern Province (218 & 224-4) by 6 wkts St George's Park, Port Elizabeth 3 days 5,6,8 Jan Western Province (371-2d & 175-2d) beat DH Robins' XI (234 & 191) by 121 runs Newlands, Cape Town 3 days 12,13,15 Jan DH Robins' XI (344-9d & 199-4d) drew with Transvaal (275-6d & 188-8) New Wanderers, Johannesburg 3 days 19,20,22 Jan Natal (180-8d & 227-8d) lost to DH Robins' XI (250-9d & 160-6) by 4 wkts Kingsmead, Durban 3 days 26,27,29 Jan DH Robins' XI (237 & 200-5d) drew with Combined Section B XI (208-8d & 85-4) Berea Park, Pretoria 3 days 2,3,5 Feb Invitation Section A XI (387-9d) beat DH Robins' XI (118 & 152) by an innings and 117 runs New Wanderers, Johannesburg 4 days 6 Feb DH Robins' XI (146) lost to South African Invitation XI (147-9) by 1 wkt New Wanderers, Johannesburg 50 overs
DH Robins' XI October-December 1973 At the start of the next South African season, Derrick Robins took another group of tourists to South Africa. Only Mike Smith and John Lever of those who toured earlier in 1973 went on this tour. Whilst the other players on the team were mostly English, there were also a number of players from other countries. Most notably the tour included Pakistani Younis Ahmed and West Indian John Shepherd. The other players in the touring squad were (English unless stated otherwise):
Brian Close (captain); Ray East; John Edrich; Bruce Francis (Australian); John Gleeson (Australian); Graham Johnson; Peter Lee; Graham Roope; John Snow; Roger Tolchard; Bob Woolmer
After four warm-up games against the provinces, the tour included five games against fully representative South African sides, four of which were over 4 days, the other a one-day match over 50 overs. The one-day game was against an African XI in Soweto.
The South Africans who played in each of these representative squads were: Hylton Ackerman; Eddie Barlow (captain); Dassie Biggs; Lee Irvine; Graeme Pollock; Mike Procter; Barry Richards; Vintcent van der Bijl. Additionally, Peter Swart played in the 4-day games, but not the one-day game; Jackie du Preez and Anthony Smith just played in the first two 4-day games; Pelham Henwood and Rupert Hanley played in the third 4-day game and the one-day game; and Kevin Verdoorn only played in the one-day game.