South Africa was banned from playing International cricket for long time due to their pursuance of a rigorous Apartheid policy. In 1980s, it prompted them to lure players from other Cricketing nations organize rebel tours to South Africa. It wasn't that difficult those days, when the cricketers were paid peanuts.
So frustrated were many West Indies players in 1981 of not finding a place in their team, that they took part in the first ever rebel tour organised by South Africa. It was ironically captained by Alvin Kallicharan, who refused to take part in the 1977 Packers Series. It made sense, as by 1981 he was past his peak, on the verge of retirement. He could not resist the seduction of $120,000 post tax offered by South Africa, a gargantuan amount at that time, especially when a starving West Indies Cricket board presiding over a bunch of talented cricketers paid anywhere close to $120K. A point to be noted that on this tour, Colin Croft and Sylvester Clarke who spearheaded the rebel attack, were fast enough to force the Proteas batsmen to wear helmets for the first time.
In 1982, Graham Gooch lead an English rebel tour to South Africa. There was a veil of secrecy regarding the tour. Even the British Press which can smell a ripe fart from miles, didn't have a clue until their team landed in Johannesburg. It pretty much constituted the English test 11, except Ian Botham, who supposedly refused to go on board, his reason - he couldn't think of making an eye contact with his English County buddy Vivian Richards, had he participated in that rebel tour to an officially racist South Africa.
I read Graham Gooch's Autobiography in 1996, which grabbed from a tiny bookstore in Liverpool. The book was an awesome read. As the skipper of that in(famous) tour, Gooch debunked this myth about Botham giving the South Africa rebel tour a miss. He alluded the reason for the All Rounder's inability to make to the "Rebel Tour" had more to do with the astronomic amount of money he demanded from the South Africans, than his concern for friendship with Vivian Richards. (Also mentioned in Gooch's Autobiography was his kudos for the gutsy Pakistani batsman Javed Miandad, whom he could not but stop admiring scoring a century on an unplayable pitch on a day of cold, blustery English weather, when the rest batsmen fell like a pack of cards).
But unlike the Caribbeans in 1981 who were banned for lifeime, Gooch's 12, called "The Dirty Dozen Dicks" by British Press, were only banned for 3 years. When Graham Gooch was back with a bang in 1985, another Rebel tour lurked in the horizons in Australia. It was captained by Kim Hughes, the Aussie who just resigned from the Captaincy after a bad series against the Windies. Similar to the English board, the Australian board banned them for no more than 3 years.
In 1989, Mohinder (JImmy) Amarnath was approached to Captain a rebel tour. Roger Binny and Madan Lal were part of the team. They were offered in dollars equivalent of 1 crore Rupee post tax, a staggering amount for crickets those days. Amarnath was unceremoniously dropped from Indian squad as he called the BCCI selectors a "Bunch of Jokers". (Incidentally Sunil Gavaskar's branding the selectors as "Court Jesters" was largely ignored, can be attributed to our Little Master's mastery for being on the right side of establishment, which he still carries).
Not sure Amarnath and his team, who hardly any career left ahead of them, chickened out. They had nothing to lose, for no sooner couple of years later in 1991, than South Africa was welcomed back to International Cricket with fanfare. The animosity related to Apartheid and the rebel tours were dumped to the dustbins of history. No wonder, Jimmy Amarnath circumvented the question about the "Rebel tour" he was supposed to lead by a chuckle " We have our share of regrets in life".
So frustrated were many West Indies players in 1981 of not finding a place in their team, that they took part in the first ever rebel tour organised by South Africa. It was ironically captained by Alvin Kallicharan, who refused to take part in the 1977 Packers Series. It made sense, as by 1981 he was past his peak, on the verge of retirement. He could not resist the seduction of $120,000 post tax offered by South Africa, a gargantuan amount at that time, especially when a starving West Indies Cricket board presiding over a bunch of talented cricketers paid anywhere close to $120K. A point to be noted that on this tour, Colin Croft and Sylvester Clarke who spearheaded the rebel attack, were fast enough to force the Proteas batsmen to wear helmets for the first time.
In 1982, Graham Gooch lead an English rebel tour to South Africa. There was a veil of secrecy regarding the tour. Even the British Press which can smell a ripe fart from miles, didn't have a clue until their team landed in Johannesburg. It pretty much constituted the English test 11, except Ian Botham, who supposedly refused to go on board, his reason - he couldn't think of making an eye contact with his English County buddy Vivian Richards, had he participated in that rebel tour to an officially racist South Africa.
I read Graham Gooch's Autobiography in 1996, which grabbed from a tiny bookstore in Liverpool. The book was an awesome read. As the skipper of that in(famous) tour, Gooch debunked this myth about Botham giving the South Africa rebel tour a miss. He alluded the reason for the All Rounder's inability to make to the "Rebel Tour" had more to do with the astronomic amount of money he demanded from the South Africans, than his concern for friendship with Vivian Richards. (Also mentioned in Gooch's Autobiography was his kudos for the gutsy Pakistani batsman Javed Miandad, whom he could not but stop admiring scoring a century on an unplayable pitch on a day of cold, blustery English weather, when the rest batsmen fell like a pack of cards).
But unlike the Caribbeans in 1981 who were banned for lifeime, Gooch's 12, called "The Dirty Dozen Dicks" by British Press, were only banned for 3 years. When Graham Gooch was back with a bang in 1985, another Rebel tour lurked in the horizons in Australia. It was captained by Kim Hughes, the Aussie who just resigned from the Captaincy after a bad series against the Windies. Similar to the English board, the Australian board banned them for no more than 3 years.
In 1989, Mohinder (JImmy) Amarnath was approached to Captain a rebel tour. Roger Binny and Madan Lal were part of the team. They were offered in dollars equivalent of 1 crore Rupee post tax, a staggering amount for crickets those days. Amarnath was unceremoniously dropped from Indian squad as he called the BCCI selectors a "Bunch of Jokers". (Incidentally Sunil Gavaskar's branding the selectors as "Court Jesters" was largely ignored, can be attributed to our Little Master's mastery for being on the right side of establishment, which he still carries).
Not sure Amarnath and his team, who hardly any career left ahead of them, chickened out. They had nothing to lose, for no sooner couple of years later in 1991, than South Africa was welcomed back to International Cricket with fanfare. The animosity related to Apartheid and the rebel tours were dumped to the dustbins of history. No wonder, Jimmy Amarnath circumvented the question about the "Rebel tour" he was supposed to lead by a chuckle " We have our share of regrets in life".
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