Those rebel tours of South Africa....
Posted: Sat Aug 18, 2012 4:00 am
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'1 Gatting’s rebel England tour to South Africa, 1990 - In the sole “Test” played by Mike Gatting’s side against South Africa they were rolled over in three days. They also lost the one-day series 3-1 and the tour was a financial disaster for the organisers, if not the players, who were well rewarded by the apartheid government. It was not, though, about what happened on the field. Nelson Mandela was freed during the tour – “Nelson Mandela? He can’t bowl, can he?” replied Bill Athey when asked about his release – and protests surrounded the side from the moment they touched down in Johannesburg. Gatting dismissed the airport protesters as a “few people singing and dancing”. But that was only the start. Black hotel staff refused to serve the tourists and thousands turned up to demonstrate at matches. The tour was cut short. “They disgraced their country and their sport,” declared the Daily Mirror. “In hindsight,” said John Emburey, “it was a tour that shouldn’t have taken place.”'
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