South African cricket team in Australia in 1971–72 (proposed)

The South African national cricket team was meant to tour Australia over the 1971–72 Australian summer, but was ultimately called off.

Tour details The tour was arranged to occur between mid-October 1971 to mid-February 1972. The itinerary for the tour was understood to include six test matches. Two were to be in Melbourne and one each in Brisbane, Sydney, Adelaide and Perth.

Touring squad South Africa's selected squad was:

PlayerDate of birthBatting styleBowling styleFirst-class team Ali Bacher  (c) 24 May 1942 Right-handed Leg break Transvaal Eddie Barlow  (vc) 12 August 1940 Right-handed Right-arm medium Western Province Hylton Ackerman 28 April 1947 Left-handed Right-arm medium Western Province Dassie Biggs 26 April 1946 Right-handed Right-arm off-spin Eastern Province Vince van der Bijl 19 March 1949 Right-handed Right-arm fast-medium Natal Grahame Chevalier 9 March 1937 Right-handed Slow left-arm orthodox Western Province Peter de Vaal 3 December 1945 Left-handed Slow left-arm orthodox Transvaal Lee Irvine 9 March 1944 Left-handed Wicketkeeper Natal Denis Lindsay 4 September 1939 Right-handed Wicketkeeper Northern Transvaal Graeme Pollock 27 February 1944 Left-handed Leg break Eastern Province Peter Pollock 30 June 1941 Right-handed Right-arm fast Eastern Province Mike Procter 15 September 1946 Right-handed Right-arm fast Rhodesia Clive Rice 23 July 1949 Right-handed Right-arm fast medium Transvaal Barry Richards 21 July 1945 Right-handed Right arm off break Natal Pat Trimborn 18 May 1940 Right-handed Right-arm fast-medium Natal

Barlow subsequently withdrew for business reasons and was replaced by Arthur Short.

Outcome However, the tour was cancelled after protests from the anti-apartheid movement; in making this decision, the Australian Cricket Board had been influenced by the protests that accompanied the 1971 South Africa rugby union tour of Australia.

The tour was replaced by a tour from a Rest of the World XI, which included Hylton Ackerman, Graeme Pollock and Peter Pollock. The Australian Cricket Board of Control chairman, Sir Donald Bradman, stated the invitation of players from South Africa was based on the precedent set from the replacement tour of England in 1970 after the proposed South African tour was cancelled. He also said that the next Australian tour of South Africa was scheduled for the 1975–76 season.

As a result of the tour's cancellation, South Africa's exclusion from international cricket was formalised. South Africa would not tour Australia again until the 1992 Cricket World Cup, and would not make another full tour until 1993-94.

References

Further reading Bruce Murray and Christopher Merrett, Caught Behind: Race and Politics in Springbok Cricket, Wits University Press and University of KwaZulu-Natal Press, Johannesburg and Scottsville, 2004, pp. 146–58