S.A. selects non-white cricketer

Press, 12 January 1987, Page 24

S.A. selects non-white cricketer

NZPA-Reuter Johannesburg South Africa has picked the first non-white to play for its national cricket team. Omar Henry, a Coloured (mixed race) off-spinner who once played for Scotland, was named in the Springbok side to play a rebel Australian team in the third unofficial “test” match, to start in Durban next week-end. Pretoria’s refusal to accept the South African-born Coloured cricketer, Basil d’Oliveira, as a member of a touring England team in 1968 triggered an international sporting boycott of South Africa which remains in force today.

England called off the tour after Pretoria’s then Prime Minister, John Vorster, vetoed d’Oliveira’s selection. Since then, South Africa has increasingly found itself in the international sporting wilderness. It has had to resort to “rebel” tours, like the present Australian visit, to give the sports-mad white public a taste of international competition. The head of the South African cricket selectors, Peter van der Merwe, made the surprise announcement in the southern town of East London, where the rebel Australians, under the captain, Kim Hughes, are playing a South African Invitation XI.

Mr Van der Merwe said Henry, aged 34, had won his place on merit and scoffed at any idea that his inclusion was window-dressing. “My brief is to choose a •side that is going to beat the Australians. Henry has had very good results recently. 1 He is a very good player and a genuine spinner of the 1 ball,” he said. Henry was born in the

same part of South Africa u I d’Oliveira, the Western Cape B W province, where there tea large mixed-race ity. He was a professional for Micklehurst In a Scottish W cricket league and played for Scotland several times, captaining them last year in M a match against the English Worcestershire county team