This article describes the history of South African

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 str ...

from 1971 to 1990. Following the

D'Oliveira affair The D'Oliveira affair was a prolonged political and sporting controversy relating to the scheduled 1968–69 tour of South Africa by the England cricket team, who were officially representing the Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC). The point of cont ...

in 1968, feeling against South Africa's application of apartheid to sport grew to the extent that by 1971 the country was isolated in sporting terms. The Test series against Australia in 1969–70 was to be their last for 22 years. For a description of South African cricket in the years of isolation, see:

International cricket in South Africa from 1971 to 1981 International cricket in South Africa between 1971 and 1981 consisted of four private tours arranged by English sports promoter Derrick Robins, two tours by a private team called the "International Wanderers", and one women's Test match. The apar ...

. Nelson Mandela was released from Victor Verster Prison in

Paarl Paarl (; Afrikaans: ; derived from ''Parel'', meaning "pearl" in Dutch) is a town with 112,045 inhabitants in the Western Cape province of South Africa. It is the third-oldest city and European settlement in the Republic of South Africa (after ...

on 11 February 1990. This event and date effectively marked the end of

apartheid Apartheid (, especially South African English: , ; , "aparthood") was a system of institutionalised racial segregation that existed in South Africa and South West Africa (now Namibia) from 1948 to the early 1990s. Apartheid was ...

and the way was soon clear for the South African team to return to the international arena.

Domestic cricket from 1971 to 1990

Currie Cup winners from 1970-71 to 1989-90

# 1970-71

Transvaal Transvaal is a historical geographic term associated with land north of (''i.e.'', beyond) the Vaal River in South Africa. A number of states and administrative divisions have carried the name Transvaal. * South African Republic (1856–1902; af, ...

# 1971-72 Transvaal # 1972-73 Transvaal # 1973-74

Natal NATAL or Natal may refer to: Places * Natal, Rio Grande do Norte, a city in Brazil * Natal, South Africa (disambiguation), a region in South Africa ** Natalia Republic, a former country (1839–1843) ** Colony of Natal, a former British colony ( ...

# 1974-75

Western Province Western Province or West Province may refer to: * Western Province, Cameroon *Western Province, Rwanda *Western Province (Kenya) *Western Province (Papua New Guinea) *Western Province (Solomon Islands) *Western Province, Sri Lanka *Western Provin ...

# 1975-76 Natal # # 1978-79 Transvaal # 1979-80 Transvaal # 1980-81 Natal # 1981-82 Western Province # 1982-83 Transvaal # 1983-84 Transvaal # 1984-85 Transvaal # 1985-86 Western Province # 1986-87 Transvaal # 1987-88 Transvaal # 1988-89 Eastern Province # 1989-90 Eastern Province and Western Province (shared)

Standard Bank Cup / B&H Series winners to 1989-90

''This competition is a limited overs knockout with 50 overs per innings'' # 1981-82

# 1982-83

# 1983-84

# 1984-85

# 1985-86

# 1986-87

# 1987-88

# 1988-89

Orange Free State The Orange Free State ( nl, Oranje Vrijstaat; af, Oranje-Vrystaat;) was an independent Boer sovereign republic under British suzerainty in Southern Africa during the second half of the 19th century, which ceased to exist after it was defeat ...

# 1989-90 Eastern Province

International tours of South Africa from 1970-71 to 1989-90

Despite the official ban on tours to South Africa during this period, several private tours did take place, some of them arousing great controversy. For information about the unofficial tours, see:

and

South African rebel tours The South African rebel tours were a series of seven cricket tours staged between 1982 and 1990. They were known as the rebel tours because the international cricketing bodies banned South Africa from competitive international cricket throughou ...

. South Africa resumed official international cricket in 1991 when the team made a short tour of India. It then played in the 1992 Cricket World Cup in Australia and New Zealand. All of the matches played during the rebel tours had been granted first-class status, but this was subsequently and controversially withdrawn by the ICC in 1993. In August 2007, the ICC was reviewing the status of all matches played in South Africa between 1961 and 1991, including those played during the rebel tours, with a view to restoring first-class status to some matches.

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External sources