Inspirational cricketer Basil D’Oliveira dies

JOHANNESBURG – Basil D’Oliveira, the South Africa-born former England cricketer who became a pivotal figure in sport’s long-running battle against apartheid, died Saturday after a lengthy illness. He was 80.

D’Oliveira, whose death in England was announced by Cricket South Africa, played 44 tests and four one-day internationals for his adopted nation after he was prevented from playing top-level cricket in his native country in the 1950s because he wasn’t white.The all-rounder was best known, however, for being the central figure in cricket’s decision to finally turn its back on South Africa during its racist apartheid era.In one of the game’s greatest controversies, his inclusion in England’s 1968 side to tour South Africa was not accepted by the apartheid government because of his skin colour and was eventually called off, leading to more than 20 years of cricketing isolation for the host country.After the ‘D’Oliveira affair,’ as it became known, South Africa did not play another match outside the country for 23 years and did not play any international cricket from 1970 to 1991, when apartheid was being dismantled following Nelson Mandela’s release from prison and the country was readmitted to the game.Other sports also severed ties with South Africa as a result of the incident, with the country’s football team returning to the international stage only in 1992.’Throughout this shameful period in South Africa’s sporting history, Basil displayed a human dignity that earned him worldwide respect and admiration,’ Cricket South Africa chief executive Gerald Majola said Saturday.Haroon Lorgat, the International Cricket Council CEO, said when he grew up in South Africa, D’Oliveira was revered among non-whites.’At the time, his influence and his legacy in a divided South Africa stretched way beyond the cricket field,’ Lorgat said.’While he never regarded himself as such, he was a hero to a generation of disenfranchised South Africans. Today I can recall with even greater respect how he served as a role model showing that despite the odds, underprivileged South Africans like myself can rise to the top.’In many ways, D’Oliveira’s pivotal role in changing views toward apartheid overshadowed – and distracted from – an impressive talent.He scored 2 484 test runs, averaging 40,06, hit five centuries and took 47 wickets with his probing away-swingers. He also scored more than 19 000 first-class runs and took 551 wickets in his 16-year career with England and county side Worcestershire. – Nampa-AP

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