Full name Basil Lewis D'Oliveira
Born October 4, 1931, Signal Hill, Cape Town, Cape Province, South Africa
Died November 19, 2011, England (aged 80 years 46 days)
Major teams England, Worcestershire
Nickname Dolly, Bas
Batting style Right-hand bat
Bowling style Right-arm medium
Other Coach
Relation Brother - I D'Oliveira, Son - DB D'Oliveira, Grandson - MD D'Oliveira, Grandson - DJ D'Oliveira, Grandson - BL D'Oliveira
Mat | Inns | NO | Runs | HS | Ave | BF | SR | 100 | 50 | 4s | 6s | Ct | St | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Tests | 44 | 70 | 8 | 2484 | 158 | 40.06 | 5 | 15 | 14 | 29 | 0 | |||
ODIs | 4 | 4 | 1 | 30 | 17 | 10.00 | 43 | 69.76 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
First-class | 367 | 575 | 91 | 19490 | 227 | 40.26 | 45 | 101 | 215 | 0 | ||||
List A | 187 | 171 | 20 | 3770 | 102 | 24.96 | 2 | 19 | 44 | 0 |
Mat | Inns | Balls | Runs | Wkts | BBI | BBM | Ave | Econ | SR | 4w | 5w | 10 | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Tests | 44 | 66 | 5706 | 1859 | 47 | 3/46 | 5/62 | 39.55 | 1.95 | 121.4 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
ODIs | 4 | 4 | 204 | 140 | 3 | 1/19 | 1/19 | 46.66 | 4.11 | 68.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
First-class | 367 | 41079 | 15126 | 551 | 6/29 | 27.45 | 2.20 | 74.5 | 17 | 2 | |||
List A | 187 | 7892 | 4478 | 190 | 5/26 | 5/26 | 23.56 | 3.40 | 41.5 | 6 | 1 | 0 |
Test debut | England v West Indies at Lord's, Jun 16-21, 1966 scorecard |
Last Test | England v Australia at The Oval, Aug 10-16, 1972 scorecard |
Test statistics | |
ODI debut | Australia v England at Melbourne, Jan 5, 1971 scorecard |
Last ODI | England v Australia at Birmingham, Aug 28, 1972 scorecard |
ODI statistics | |
First-class span | 1964 - 1980 |
List A span | 1965 - 1979 |
One of broadcaster-writer John Arlott's most worthy deeds was saving Basil D'Oliveira from half-life as a Cape Colored in South Africa by persuading Middleton, the Central Lancashire League club, to take him on as their professional in 1960. This led to Worcestershire (in 1964) and England (in 1966) acquiring a readymade allrounder of formidable physical and mental strength, which was never better illustrated than when England were in trouble. Arlott's initiative was the making of D'Oliveira, and a source of joy to all who loathed apartheid. When you watched "Dolly" flaying the opposition's bowlers with meaty back-foot clumps, or frustrating their batsmen with outward-drifting medium-pace of cloying accuracy (his economy rate in Tests was 1.95 runs per over) there was one sharp regret ... if only he'd been spotted at 19 rather than 29. Then D'Oliveira would have put the runs and wickets in the book that would have shown future generations what he unmistakably was - one of cricket's greats.
John Thicknesse
Wisden Cricketer of the Year 1967
Walter Lawrence Trophy 1967
Awarded the OBE in June 1969
Awarded the CBE on 11th June 2005