In the 1st One dayers, India was
squarely thrashed …. Do expect Dhoni’s boys to come back…. Do you remember the 1st ODI at Calcutta on 10th Nov 1991 between South Africa and India ~ a record crowd of 90000
attended this match when 10 South Africans made their debut ! – do you know the
significance of this match and why there were 10 debutants ??
Nelson Rolihlahla Mandela is no more….. he would ever be remembered as anti-apartheid
revolutionary, politician and philanthropist who served as President of South
Africa from 1994 to 1999. He was the first black South African to hold the
office, and the first elected in a fully representative democratic election.
His government focused on dismantling the legacy of apartheid through tackling
institutionalised racism, poverty and inequality, and fostering racial
reconciliation.
Gleneagles in Scotland has nothing to do with eagles….but would be
remembered … Apartheid ("the state of being apart") was a system of
racial segregation in South Africa enforced through legislation by the National
Party (NP) governments, the ruling party from 1948 to 1994, under which the
rights of the majority black inhabitants were curtailed and Afrikaner minority
rule was maintained. Racial segregation in South Africa began in colonial times
under Dutch rule. Apartheid as an official policy was introduced following the
general election of 1948. Apartheid sparked significant internal resistance and
violence, and a long arms and trade embargo against South Africa .
The Gleneagles Agreement was the all important
treaty, unanimously approved by the
Commonwealth of Nations at a meeting at Gleneagles, Auchterarder ,Scotland .
In 1977, Commonwealth Presidents and Prime Ministers agreed, as part of their
support for the international campaign against apartheid, to discourage contact
and competition between their sportsmen and sporting organisations, teams or
individuals from South
Africa . As a sequel, the Commonwealth
imposed a sporting ban on South Africa
because several of the sports most popular among white South Africans are
dominated by Commonwealth member states, for example cricket and rugby union.
Earlier the Basil D'Oliveira affair
pulled stop to the schemed 1968–69 tour
of South Africa by the England cricket
team. The point of contention was whether or not the England
team selectors would include the eponymous Basil D'Oliveira, a mixed-race South
African player who had represented England in Test cricket since 1966,
having moved there six years earlier. With South
Africa under apartheid, England 's potential inclusion of a
non-white South African in their tour party became a massive political
controversy. Under pressure from the British government and public to show
opposition to apartheid, the Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC) tour organisers sought
to maintain links with South
Africa and have the series go ahead without
incident. The MCC selectors faced considerable criticism in Britain after they named a team without
D'Oliveira; when they then included D'Oliveira after all following an injured
player's withdrawal, outcry instead came from South Africa . Compromise proved
impossible, and the MCC reluctantly cancelled the tour.
That brought a big fullstop to Sporting in
international arena for South Africa ~ and the talented cricketers of the Nation
could not play in 1975, 1979, 1983 and 1987 World Cups…… and had not played an
official One day International till 1991.
Rugby union was (and is) an extremely popular sport in New Zealand , and the Springboks were considered
to be New Zealand 's
most formidable opponents. In between there was the Springbok tour – that South
African rugby union to New Zealand in 1981 polarised opinions and inspired
widespread protests across New Zealand. So most countries strongly discouraged
having sporting contacts with it.
In Cricket there were to be un-official tours
in fact 7 of them staged between 1982 and 1990. They were known as the rebel
tours because South Africa
was banned from international cricket throughout this period as a result of the
apartheid regime. None from India
participated …. There were so many talented cricketers who lost their prime
during this period and would include : Vincent van der Bijl, Kevin McKenzie,
Alan Kourie, Kenny Watson, Roy Pienaar, Ray Jennings, Henry Fotheringham, Ken
McEwan, Garth Le Roux and some who had
played little of International cricket like : Graeme Pollock (23 Tests), Mike
Procter (7 Tests) and Barry Richards (4 Tests)
That one dayer in the initial part
of the post was the time when South Africa
staged a comeback in International cricket and were the first-ever official
ODIs played by South Africa .
India
won the series 2-1. All the players were
playing in ODI for the first time save Kepler Wessels, who had earlier played
for Australia . The match was reduced to 47 overs per side. India won the
toss and chose to field. South
Africa scored 177/8 in their 47 overs with
notable contributions from Wessels (50) and Adrian Kuiper (43). In their reply,
India started badly with
Allan Donald grabbing the first 3 wickets to leave India at 20/3. Sachin Tendulkar
(62) and debutant Pravin Amre (55) guided India to victory. Sachin was the man of the match. Clive Rice and Azharuddin were the captains.
With regards – S.
Sampathkumar
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