Basil D'Oliveira

Who was Basil D'Oliveira?

Basil Lewis D'Oliveira CBE, known affectionately around the world as "Dolly", was a South African cricketer who played for England. D'Oliveira was classified as 'coloured' under the apartheid regime, and hence barred from first-class cricket, resulting in his emigration to England. He played for the England cricket team in forty-four Test matches, and four ODIs. Despite his cricketing prowess, he was best known because of the "D'Oliveira affair", centred on his inclusion in the England side for a planned tour to South Africa in 1968.