History of cricket in South Africa from 1945–46 to 1970 whose team included Basil D'Oliveira. Although the Australians visited South Africa in 1969-70, the end was nigh for apartheid in sport and South Africa was banned from Test cricket for 22 years. This happened just at a time when the South African team was arguably the strongest in world cricket. In 1970, after South Africa's tour of England was cancelled, a Rest of the World team toured instead. It was captained by Gary Sobers and included other non-white players from the West Indies, India and Pakistan. It also included four of the greatest South African players (Eddie Barlow, Graeme Pollock,
South Africa national cricket team South Africa national cricket team The South African national cricket team, nicknamed the Proteas (after South Africa's national flower, "Protea cynaroides", commonly known as the "king protea"), is administered by Cricket South Africa. South Africa is a full member of the International Cricket Council (ICC) with Test, One Day International (ODI) and Twenty20 International (T20I) status. South Africa entered first-class and international cricket at the same time when they hosted an England cricket team in the 1888–89 season. At first, the team was no match for Australia or England but, having gained in experience and expertise, they were able to