In 1966, Basil D’Oliveira made his Test debut for England against the West Indies at Lord’s. He was to remain a regular in the side for the next few years, featuring in a number of Ashes matches against Australia.
Indeed, it was against Australia in 1972 that he made the last of his Test appearances, finishing his Test career with 27 wickets and scoring nearly 2,500 runs, including five centuries.
However, it was not for that he is best remembered, but rather for his part in helping to bring down the South African apartheid regime.
That is because he was actually born in South Africa into a mixed race ‘Cape Coloured’ family. It meant that, in his native land, he was regarded very much a second-class citizen, and banned from playing top-class cricket.
In 1960, at 31, he decided to move to England with his Naomi to play in the Lancashire League. He was soon picked up by Worcestershire, with whom he was to form a long association.
Although he did not play First-class cricket until 1965, by the following year he was picked for England, but only after lying about his age. Realising that the selectors would not pick him if they thought he was too old, he claimed he had been born in 1935, rather than the true year of his birth which was 1928!
That meant that he did not make his test debut until he was 38, which begs the question what he might achieved had it started earlier.
D’Oliveira earned his place in history unwittingly in 1968. Despite scoring 158 against Australia in the final Test of that year against Australia, he was omitted from the original party to tour South Africa later that year, but added when Tom Cartwright pulled out.
When the South African government learned of his heritage they made it clear he would not be welcome on their shores. That, in turn, led England to cancel the tour.
In the wake of the incident, an international ban on sporting ties with South Africa was imposed. That would last until the early 1990s, something that caused so much angst to sport-loving South Africans that the apartheid regime began to crumble under internal opposition.
D'Oliveira returned to South Africa after retirement to coach in non-white leagues. In 2004, belated recognition of his role in healing one of the great sporting divides was granted when the trophy for the winning side in Test series between South Africa and England would be named after him.
He died in 2011 when he was 83, but his name lives on to this day.