Brian Sidney Bassano (born in

East London East or Orient is one of the four cardinal directions or points of the compass. It is the opposite direction from west and is the direction from which the Sun rises on the Earth. Etymology As in other languages, the word is formed from the f ...

Cape Province The Province of the Cape of Good Hope ( af, Provinsie Kaap die Goeie Hoop), commonly referred to as the Cape Province ( af, Kaapprovinsie) and colloquially as The Cape ( af, Die Kaap), was a province in the Union of South Africa and subsequen ...

Union of South Africa The Union of South Africa ( nl, Unie van Zuid-Afrika; af, Unie van Suid-Afrika; ) was the historical predecessor to the present-day Republic of South Africa. It came into existence on 31 May 1910 with the unification of the Cape, Natal, Trans ...

, on 21 March 1936, died in

Launceston, Tasmania Launceston () or () is a city in the north of Tasmania, Australia, at the confluence of the North Esk and South Esk rivers where they become the Tamar River (kanamaluka). As of 2021, Launceston has a population of 87,645. Material was copied ...

, on 10 July 2001) was a South African journalist and cricket historian.

Life and career

After some years in England, Brian Bassano returned to South Africa in the late 1960s and became a journalist and cricket commentator on radio. With

Donald Woods Donald James Woods (15 December 1933 – 19 August 2001) was a South African journalist and Internal resistance to apartheid, anti-apartheid activist. As editor of the ''Daily Dispatch'', he was known for befriending fellow activist Steve Bik ...

, he formed one of the first multiracial club teams in South Africa, the Rainbow Cricket Club in East London. Bassano became a prolific historian of South Africa's international cricket up to 1970, and made a 30-part television history of South Africa's

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), ...

history from 1888 to 1970. He moved to Australia in 1988. Several of his histories were published posthumously. His son

Chris Chris is a short form of various names including Christopher, Christian, Christina, Christine, and Christos. Chris is also used as a name in its own right, however it is not as common. People with the given name * Chris Abani (born 1966), N ...

played

first-class cricket First-class cricket, along with List A cricket and Twenty20 cricket, is one of the highest-standard forms of cricket. A first-class match is one of three or more days' scheduled duration between two sides of eleven players each and is officiall ...

for

Derbyshire Derbyshire ( ) is a ceremonial county in the East Midlands, England. It includes much of the Peak District National Park, the southern end of the Pennine range of hills and part of the National Forest. It borders Greater Manchester to the nor ...

and

Tasmania ) , nickname = , image_map = Tasmania in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of Tasmania in AustraliaCoordinates: , subdivision_type = Country , subdi ...

Books

* ''South Africa in International Cricket 1888–1970'' 1979 * ''The Best of South African Sport: Rob Armitage Benefit Year'' 1987 (editor) * ''The

West Indies in Australia 1930-31 West or Occident is one of the four cardinal directions or points of the compass. It is the opposite direction from east and is the direction in which the Sunset, Sun sets on the Earth. Etymology The word "west" is a Germanic languages, German ...

'' (with Rick Smith) 1990 * ''A Springbok Down Under: South Africa on Tour, 1931-32'' (with Rick Smith) 1991 (based on the diary of

Ken Viljoen Kenneth George Viljoen (14 May 1910 – 21 January 1974) was a South African cricketer who played in 27 Test matches from 1930–31 to 1948–49. He was later a manager of post–World War II South African teams. He was born in Windsorton, Cap ...

) * '' Vic's Boys: Australia in South Africa 1935-36'' 1993 * ''South African Cricket: Vol. 4, 1947–1960'' 1996 * ''South Africa versus England: 106 Years of Test Match Glory'' 1996 * '' MCC in South Africa 1938-39'' 1997 * ''

Aubrey Faulkner George Aubrey Faulkner (17 December 1881 – 10 September 1930) was a South African cricketer who played 25 Test cricket, Test matches for South Africa national cricket team, South Africa and fought in both the Second Boer War and World War I. ...

: His Record Innings by Innings'' 2001 * '' Mann's Men: MCC in South Africa 1922-23'' 2004 * ''The Visit of Mr W. W. Read's 1891-92 English Cricket Team to South Africa'' (with Rick Smith) 2007 * ''Maiden Victory: The 1935 South African Tour of England'' (with Rick Smith) 2012

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bassano, Brian 1936 births 2001 deaths Cricket historians and writers South African emigrants to Australia South African journalists South African cricket commentators Australian people of South African descent People from East London, Eastern Cape 20th-century journalists