The Basil D'Oliveira Trophy is a trophy played for by

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

and

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the north by the neighbouring countri ...

in the sport of

cricket Cricket is a bat-and-ball game played between two teams of eleven players on a field at the centre of which is a pitch with a wicket at each end, each comprising two bails balanced on three stumps. The batting side scores runs by striki ...

. The trophy is awarded to the team that wins a

Test Test(s), testing, or TEST may refer to: * Test (assessment), an educational assessment intended to measure the respondents' knowledge or other abilities Arts and entertainment * ''Test'' (2013 film), an American film * ''Test'' (2014 film), ...

series between the two nations. If the series is a draw, the holder keeps the trophy. It was first contested in the 2004–05 series played in South Africa. The trophy is named after

Basil D'Oliveira Basil Lewis D'Oliveira CBE OIS (4 October 1931 – 19 November 2011) was an England international cricketer of South African Cape Coloured background, whose potential selection by England for the scheduled 1968–69 tour of apartheid-era South ...

, a South African born English Test cricketer whose inclusion in the English squad to tour South Africa in 1968–69 led to the cancellation of the tour following objections from South African authorities due to D'Oliveira's classification as "

coloured Coloureds ( af, Kleurlinge or , ) refers to members of multiracial ethnic communities in Southern Africa who may have ancestry from more than one of the various populations inhabiting the region, including African, European, and Asian. South ...

Background

Prior to the trophy's inception, England and South Africa had played twenty-nine series, sixteen in South Africa and thirteen in England. The overall record was seven South African victories, eighteen English victories, and four drawn series.

List of Test series

Pre Basil D'Oliveira Trophy era

Basil D'Oliveira Trophy era

References

{{Named Test Cricket series England in international cricket South Africa in international cricket Test cricket competitions Cricket awards and rankings