The Coming of Nelson and the Ending of Apartheid Cricket? Gatting’s Rebels in South Africa, 1990

The year 1990 is pivotal in South African history. The liberation movements were unbanned, and Nelson Mandela was freed in the midst of a tour by Mike Gatting’s English rebel cricket team. The newly constituted National Sports Congress, which had the support of the African National Congress, was at the forefront of protests against the tour. For once, Ali Bacher and apartheid cricket were on the back foot. However, the NSC did a sudden volte-face by calling off protests and negotiating the end of the tour. One reason for this decision was that the NSC was made aware of Mandela’s imminent release and that sport would play a key role in creating a ‘stable’ environment. These moves and countermoves accelerated cricket “unity” and saw South African return to international cricket before the formal end of apartheid. This paper interrogates the consequences of cricket returning to the international fold in such haste. It is entitled ‘Nelson’ because in some cricket countries, the score of 111 is called Nelson, and there is a superstitious belief that a wicket would fall. With Mandela’s release, 1990 was the year in which apartheid’s wicket fell, though victory celebrations appear to have been premature.