The West Indian rebel tours to South Africa

During the apartheid-linked isolation years of South Africa, the country’s cricket authorities ensured that cricket carried on in the troubled land by enticing a number of ‘rebel’ teams to visit their shores. The best and the most attractive among them was perhaps the star-studded West Indian side that visited twice during the early 1980s. Garfield Robinson looks back at those controversial tours..

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Charles Lawrence, Thomas Wills and the first ever Australian tour of England (1868) : Part 9

The epochal first ever Australian cricket tour to England remains one of the most curious tale of sporting relations. In this series, Pradip Dhole traces the journey and deeds of the Aboriginal cricketers, which remain surprising even after a century and half, and also relates the story behind the men who made this incredible venture possible.

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Charles Lawrence, Thomas Wills and the first ever Australian tour of England (1868) : Part 8

The epochal first ever Australian cricket tour to England remains one of the most curious tale of sporting relations. In this series, Pradip Dhole traces the journey and deeds of the Aboriginal cricketers, which remain surprising even after a century and half, and also relates the story behind the men who made this incredible venture possible.

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Charles Lawrence, Thomas Wills and the first ever Australian tour of England (1868) : Part 7

The epochal first ever Australian cricket tour to England remains one of the most curious tale of sporting relations. In this series, Pradip Dhole traces the journey and deeds of the Aboriginal cricketers, which remain surprising even after a century and half, and also relates the story behind the men who made this incredible venture possible.

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Charles Lawrence, Thomas Wills and the first ever Australian tour of England (1868) : Part 6

The epochal first ever Australian cricket tour to England remains one of the most curious tale of sporting relations. In this series, Pradip Dhole traces the journey and deeds of the Aboriginal cricketers, which remain surprising even after a century and half, and also relates the story behind the men who made this incredible venture possible.

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Charles Lawrence, Thomas Wills and the first ever Australian tour of England (1868) : Part 5

The epochal first ever Australian cricket tour to England remains one of the most curious tale of sporting relations. In this series, Pradip Dhole traces the journey and deeds of the Aboriginal cricketers, which remain surprising even after a century and half, and also relates the story behind the men who made this incredible venture possible.

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Charles Lawrence, Thomas Wills and the first ever Australian tour of England (1868) : Part 4

The epochal first ever Australian cricket tour to England remains one of the most curious tale of sporting relations. In this series, Pradip Dhole traces the journey and deeds of the Aboriginal cricketers, which remain surprising even after a century and half, and also relates the story behind the men who made this incredible venture possible.

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Charles Lawrence, Thomas Wills and the first ever Australian tour of England (1868) : Part 3

The epochal first ever Australian cricket tour to England remains one of the most curious tale of sporting relations. In this series, Pradip Dhole traces the journey and deeds of the Aboriginal cricketers, which remain surprising even after a century and half, and also relates the story behind the men who made this incredible venture possible.

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Charles Lawrence, Thomas Wills and the first ever Australian tour of England (1868) : Part 2

The epochal first ever Australian cricket tour to England remains one of the most curious tale of sporting relations. In this series, Pradip Dhole traces the journey and deeds of the Aboriginal cricketers, which remain surprising even after a century and half, and also relates the story behind the men who made this incredible venture possible.

Read More

Charles Lawrence, Thomas Wills and the first ever Australian tour of England (1868) : Part 1

The epochal first ever Australian cricket tour to England remains one of the most curious tale of sporting relations. In this series, Pradip Dhole traces the journey and deeds of the Aboriginal cricketers, which remain surprising even after a century and half, and also relates the story behind the men who made this incredible venture possible.

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The final Rebel Test

February 8, 1990. In the midst of combustible political situation, the very last rebel ‘Test’ got underway in Johannesburg between South Africa and Mike Gatting’s England XI. Arunabha Sengupta looks at how the game was played amidst protests, demonstrations, massive country-wide changes and the release of Nelson Mandela.

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Kerry Packer's World Series sends tremors through the World of Cricket

“In a player revolution unprecedented in sport, the world’s top 34 Test cricketers have secretly signed contracts to become freelance mercenaries.” Thus ran the earth-shaking story by the late Ian Wooldridge in the Daily Mail of  May 9, 1977. Thirty five years after Wooldridge’s scoop, Arunabha Sengupta looks back at the fateful day that announced a crack in the foundations of the cricket world.

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