D'Oliveira affair D'Oliveira affair The D'Oliveira affair was a prolonged political and sporting controversy relating to the scheduled 1968–69 tour of South Africa by the England cricket team, who were officially representing the Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC). The point of contention was whether or not the England selectors would include 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, the potential inclusion by England of a non-white South African in their tour party became a political issue. A Cape Coloured of Indian and Portuguese
D'Oliveira affair middle of the street. The South Africa cricket team was due to tour England shortly afterwards, and the MCC remained keen for the series to go ahead. They cancelled the tour a week before the South Africans were due to arrive, following public protests and pressure from the UK government. Virulent anti-apartheid demonstrations in Australia during the South Africa rugby team's 1971 tour led to soaring police costs, matches played behind fences and barbed wire, and a state of emergency in Queensland, all of which prompted the Australian Cricket Board to cancel the tour by the South Africa cricket team