In January and February 1983, a representative team of West Indian cricket players undertook a so-called "Rebel tour" to South Africa, to play a series of matches against the South African team. At the time, the International Cricket Council (ICC) had placed a moratorium on international cricket teams making tours of South Africa, due to the nation's government policy of apartheid, leaving South Africa with no official international competition.
| West Indian cricket team in South Africa in 1982–83 | |||
|---|---|---|---|
.svg){kind=small} |  | ||
| South Africa | West Indies | ||
| Dates | 15 January 1983 – 13 February 1983 | ||
| Captains | Peter Kirsten | Lawrence Rowe | |
| Test series | |||
| Result | 2-match series drawn 1–1 | ||
| One Day International series | |||
| Results | South Africa won the 6-match series 4–2 | ||
Background
The West Indian players were mainly talented understudies struggling to break into the great West Indian Test team of the period, or men past their prime as Test players. First-class cricketers in the West Indies were then poorly paid and the participants, many of whom had irregular or no employment in the off-season, received between US$100,000 and US$125,000 for the two tours. West Indies cricket was so strong that Clive Lloyd had little need for the likes of Lawrence Rowe, Collis King and Sylvester Clarke. Rowe has since stated that he and several other players were disillusioned with the West Indies Cricket Board for not selecting them despite good performances.[1]
The previous season a Sri Lankan team toured South Africa which was theorised to have helped pave the way for players from the West Indies to tour by demonstrating it possible for a non-white cricket team to tour South Africa safely.[2]
The strength of Caribbean cricket was evidenced in the 'international' matches, where South Africa received their first real test. A fiercely contested four-week series in 1982–3 took 'unofficial internationals' to new heights, the Springboks winning the one-day series 4–2 while the 'Test' series was drawn 1–1. The dominant theme of the match-ups was West Indian fast bowling. Colin Croft was one of four World Cup winners in the party. Their pace battery, featuring Clarke, Croft, Stephenson, Bernard Julien and Ezra Moseley, the Springbok batsmen wore helmets for the first time. The frantic first series, organised in secret and conducted on the hoof, set up a fierce battle when the West Indians returned for a full tour the following season.
Touring team
| Player | Date of Birth | Batting style | Bowling style | First class team |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Lawrence Rowe (c) | 8 January 1949 | Right hand | Left arm fast medium |  Jamaica |
| Richard Austin | 5 September 1954 | Right hand | Right-arm medium/off break | Jamaica |
| Herbert Chang | 2 July 1952 | Left-hand | Right-arm medium | Jamaica |
| Sylvester Clarke | 11 December 1954 | Right-hand | Right-arm fast |  Barbados |
| Colin Croft | 15 March 1953 | Right-hand | Right-arm fast |  Guyana |
| Alvin Greenidge | 20 August 1956 | Right-hand | Right-arm medium | Barbados |
| Bernard Julien | 13 March 1950 | Right hand | Left arm medium-fast |  Trinidad and Tobago |
| Alvin Kallicharran | 21 March 1949 | Left-hand | Right-arm offbreak | Guyana |
| Collis King | 11 June 1951 | Right-hand | Right-arm medium | Barbados |
| Everton Mattis | 11 April 1957 | Right-hand | Right-arm offbreak | Jamaica |
| Ezra Moseley | 5 January 1958 | Right-hand | Right-arm medium-fast | Barbados |
| David Murray | 29 May 1950 | Right-hand | wicket-keeper | Barbados |
| Albert Padmore | 17 December 1944 | Right-hand | Right-arm offbreak | Barbados |
| Derick Parry | 22 December 1954 | Right-hand | Right-arm offbreak |  Leeward Islands |
| Franklyn Stephenson | 8 April 1959 | Right-hand | Right-arm fast | Barbados |
| Emmerson Trotman | 10 November 1954 | Right-hand | Right-arm medium | Barbados |
| Ray Wynter | 27 November 1955 | Right-hand | Right-arm medium-fast | Jamaica |
Tour matches
15 January 1983 Scorecard |
v | Western Province 183 (49.4 overs) | |
- Western Province won the toss and decided to field
- First Test
v | ||
- South Africa won the toss and elected to bat
- 23 January was a rest day
- Second Test
v | ||
- South Africa won the toss and decided to field
- 30 January was a rest day
3 February 1983 Scorecard |
Natal 202/8 (50 overs) | v | |
Colin Croft 33 Kenneth Cooper 3/26 (6 overs) |
- Toss not known
- First ODI
- Second ODI
- Third ODI
- Fourth ODI
v | ||
- Toss not known
- Fifth ODI
12 February 1983 Scorecard |
v | ||
- Toss not known
- Rupert Hanley took a hat-trick in the West Indies innings (Rowe, Parry, Clarke)
- Sixth ODI
- CEB Rice Benefit Match
v | ||
- Toss not known
- Rowe declared because David Murray could not find his cricket trousers in time to bat
Aftermath
The West Indian players were given life bans in all forms of the game, depriving West Indian cricket of a large amount of player talent. Despite earning much money from the tour many West Indian players faced social stigma and unemployment afterwards with nine leaving the Caribbean altogether as a result. Though the ban was lifted in 1989 only one of the players, Ezra Moseley, was selected to play for the West Indies post 1989.[3]
References
Further reading
- May, Peter (2009). The Rebel Tours: Cricket's Crisis of Conscience. SportsBooks. ISBN 978-1899807802.