Lives in Cricket No 10 - John Shepherd

‘irreparable harm’. On 22 May 1970, the tour was cancelled following British Government ‘instructions’. 72 In the early summer of 1970 the West Indies Cricket Board of Control sought further to clarify its own position regarding the involvement of West Indian players in South Africa. They issued a statement which whilst deploring apartheid also made it clear that in the Board’s view it was a matter for individual conscience. They said that the Board: would not attempt to dictate to any player on the question of whether he should play against South Africa, nevertheless the Board would deplore any attempt to bring pressure to bear on any West Indian player to participate in any match involving South Africa against his conscience. 73 This statement was soon to be tested – albeit in South Africa’s ideologically similar neighbour, the rebel British colony of Rhodesia. The West Indian captain Garry Sobers accepted an invitation to partner the South African Ali Bacher in a double-wicket tournament in Rhodesia, having failed to consult with anyone in the West Indies Board on the matter – and he duly spent a couple of days in that country in September. Sobers’ participation caused a furore across the West Indies, not least because he met with Ian Smith, the Prime Minister of what was a rebel state and against which United Nations sanctions applied. Sobers freely admitted that he did it for the money (£600) and he was certainly naïve about the political ramifications of his decision. In the end, and after apologies and a bit of eating of humble pie, the tumult blew over – for him at least. Following the cancellation of the 1970 South African tour to England, the Australian cricket authorities had to consider their position in respect of a planned Aussie tour to the Republic in 1971/72. They eventually decided not to proceed with that tour – albeit mainly on the grounds of security and safety rather from a morally principled standpoint. Not deterred by this, Colin Cowdrey was personally determined to keep the door to South Africa as open as possible, and proposed a private tour of an ‘England Invitation team’ to take place in March and April 1972 and rather audaciously planned to include not just Basil D’Oliveira but also the non-whites John Shepherd, Asif Iqbal, Harry Latchman, Majid Khan, Ron Headley and Bernard Julian in the multi-racial tour party! 74 The non-white cricket bodies in South Africa were adamantly opposed to Cowdrey’s initiative and put Honorary White 66 72 These ‘instructions’ were cast in singularly diplomatic language. The key sentence in the letter from the Home Secretary, James Callaghan, to the Chairman of the Cricket Council read: ‘The Government have come to the conclusion … that on the grounds of broad public policy they must request the Cricket Council to withdraw their invitation to the South African Cricket Association, and I should be grateful if you would put this request before the Council.’ 73 Statement by the West Indies Cricket Board, reported by Tony Cozier in The Cricketer September 1970. 74 Reported in The Guardian , 10 January 1972.