England's South African XI

Basil D' Oliveira

Basil D' Oliveira belonged to a race that was discriminated under the apartheid system

The man who actually initiated the eventual boycott of South Africa from international cricket was himself born in Cape Town, South Africa in 1931.

Having been born into a family with Indo-Portuguese descent, Oliveira was considered to belong to the coloured group of individuals, a race of people discriminated democratically by the government of South Africa in the apartheid era.

After obtaining British citizenship in 1962 he started playing for English counties and soon got selected into the national squad. When England's team for their 1968 tour to South Africa included him as an all-rounder, South Africa pulled out of the series citing that their players could not play the sport on the same field as where a coloured individual also played, eventually leading to their boycott from cricket for the next 22 years.

Oliveira went on to represent England in 44 Tests, scoring 2484 runs @ 40.05 and picking up 47 wickets. It is noteworthy to mention that the winner of the Test series between South Africa and England now takes home the Basil D' Oliveira Trophy.