In January 1990, a representative team of English cricket players undertook the final 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 had placed a moratorium on international cricket teams undertaking tours of the country, due to the South African government's policy of apartheid, leaving South Africa with no international competition.
Background
During the 1980s, as a result of the boycott of South Africa by sporting bodies, the International Cricket Council had prevented official tours to South Africa. This had led to a number of so-called "rebel" tours, with individual players contracted to tour as part of unofficial representative teams. Since 1982, when the first rebel tour took place, a total of six tours had taken place by sides representing England, Australia, Sri Lanka and, perhaps most controversially, the West Indies. By 1990 however, South Africa was in the midst of a major societal shake-up, as the ruling National Party had entered negotiations to repeal the ban on the African National Congress and release Nelson Mandela from prison. It was into this atmosphere that a seventh rebel cricket tour began at the end of January 1990, this time with players unofficially representing England. Unlike previous tours, which had been received by the white population in the country enthusiastically, this time, with South Africa going through major upheaval, the presence of the touring side seemingly representing the old order and, unlike on previous tours, being paid directly by the government, caused major protests right from the beginning. Virtually every game played during the tour featured demonstrations, with several riots taking place, and the police using both tear gas and rubber bullets to disperse protesters, while on one occasion the English players were pelted with stones.
Squads
A number of the South African side, including captain Jimmy Cook, had played in the original rebel tour by the English side in 1982. Of the English players, only John Emburey had appeared in the 1982 tour - following his three-year international ban for appearing in that series, he had returned to the England side, and was part of the successful 1986-87 Ashes tour. Three of the English players, Gatting, Emburey and Chris Cowdrey, had served as England captain during the 1988 West Indies tour to England, while a number had full test caps.
The original 16 names for the England XI made public during the summer of 1989 included two black players: Phillip DeFreitas and Roland Butcher. They both withdrew from the tour and were replaced by Greg Thomas and Alan Wells.
Matches
The tour itself was originally scheduled to include two "test" and five one-day matches between the touring party and the South African team, as well as another four tour matches against other opposition. However, as a result of the significant protests over the course of the touring team's time in South Africa, the tour was cut short by a week, with the second test match and original one-day series cancelled and instead replaced by four one-day games.
Tour matches
Combined Bowl XI v England XI
South African Universities v England XI
South African Invitational XI v England XI
Transvaal v England XI
Test series
First Test
Second Test
One-day Series
First ODI
Second ODI
Third ODI
Fourth ODI
Planned one-day series
The original tour schedule called for five one-day games to be played following the conclusion of the two-match test series. The itinerary for the one-day series was: Kingsmead, Durban; 25 February 1990 Newlands, Cape Town; 27 February 1990 Centurion Park, Verwoerdburg; 1 March 1990 Wanderers, Johannesburg; 3 March 1990 Mangaung Oval, Bloemfontein; 5 March 1990
Aftermath
The 1990 rebel tour was considered to be an unmitigated disaster, as the English players were seen to be shoring up the dying apartheid regime at the same time as freedoms were being implemented in South Africa. The day after the end of the test match, Nelson Mandela was freed from imprisonment, while the explosion outside Newlands convinced the organisers that continuing with the tour as planned was not viable, not least as it would potentially put the players safety at risk. A further planned tour by the English players, intended for the winter of 1990–91, and for which the players had signed up, was quickly cancelled, with the players receiving their full payments.