# West Indian cricket team in South Africa in 1982–83

In January and February 1983, a representative team of West Indian cricket players undertook a so-called "Rebel tour" to South Africa, to play a series of matches against the South African team. At the time, the International Cricket Council (ICC) had placed a moratorium on international cricket teams making tours of South Africa, due to the nation's government policy of apartheid, leaving South Africa with no official international competition.

## Background

The West Indian players were mainly talented understudies struggling to break into the great West Indian Test team of the period, or men past their prime as Test players. First-class cricketers in the West Indies were then poorly paid and the participants, many of whom had irregular or no employment in the off-season, received between US$100,000 and US$125,000 for the two tours. West Indies cricket was so strong that Clive Lloyd had little need for the likes of Lawrence Rowe, Collis King and Sylvester Clarke. Rowe has since stated that he and several other players were disillusioned with the West Indies Cricket Board for not selecting them despite good performances.
The previous season a Sri Lankan team toured South Africa which was theorised to have helped pave the way for players from the West Indies to tour by demonstrating it possible for a non-white cricket team to tour South Africa safely.
The strength of Caribbean cricket was evidenced in the 'international' matches, where South Africa received their first real test. A fiercely contested four-week series in 1982–3 took 'unofficial internationals' to new heights, the Springboks winning the one-day series 4–2 while the 'Test' series was drawn 1–1. The dominant theme of the match-ups was West Indian fast bowling. Colin Croft was one of four World Cup winners in the party. Their pace battery, featuring Clarke, Croft, Stephenson, Bernard Julien and Ezra Moseley, the Springbok batsmen wore helmets for the first time. The frantic first series, organised in secret and conducted on the hoof, set up a fierce battle when the West Indians returned for a full tour the following season.

## Touring team

| Player | Date of Birth | Batting style | Bowling style | First class team |
| Lawrence Rowe (c) | 8 January 1949 | Right hand | Left arm fast medium | Jamaica |
| Richard Austin | 5 September 1954 | Right hand | Right-arm medium/off break | Jamaica |
| Herbert Chang | 2 July 1952 | Left-hand | Right-arm medium | Jamaica |
| Sylvester Clarke | 11 December 1954 | Right-hand | Right-arm fast | Barbados |
| Colin Croft | 15 March 1953 | Right-hand | Right-arm fast | Guyana |
| Alvin Greenidge | 20 August 1956 | Right-hand | Right-arm medium | Barbados |
| Bernard Julien | 13 March 1950 | Right hand | Left arm medium-fast | Trinidad and Tobago |
| Alvin Kallicharran | 21 March 1949 | Left-hand | Right-arm offbreak | Guyana |
| Collis King | 11 June 1951 | Right-hand | Right-arm medium | Barbados |
| Everton Mattis | 11 April 1957 | Right-hand | Right-arm offbreak | Jamaica |
| Ezra Moseley | 5 January 1958 | Right-hand | Right-arm medium-fast | Barbados |
| David Murray | 29 May 1950 | Right-hand | wicket-keeper | Barbados |
| Albert Padmore | 17 December 1944 | Right-hand | Right-arm offbreak | Barbados |
| Derick Parry | 22 December 1954 | Right-hand | Right-arm offbreak | Leeward Islands |
| Franklyn Stephenson | 8 April 1959 | Right-hand | Right-arm fast | Barbados |
| Emmerson Trotman | 10 November 1954 | Right-hand | Right-arm medium | Barbados |
| Ray Wynter | 27 November 1955 | Right-hand | Right-arm medium-fast | Jamaica |

## Tour matches

* 15 January 1983 Scorecard
| West Indies 204/9 (50 overs) | v | Western Province 183 (49.4 overs) |
| Collis King 79* Stephen Jefferies 4/31 (10 overs) | | Graham Gooch 64 Ezra Moseley 4/23 (9.4 overs) |
* West Indies won by 21 runs Newlands, Cape Town Umpires: Albert Maasch and Herbert Martin Player of the match: Collis King (WI)
* Western Province won the toss and decided to field
* 15 January 1983 Scorecard
| Border 100/8 (50 overs) | v | West Indies 103/3 (23 overs) |
| Raymond Ranger 23 Sylvester Clarke 2/18 (7 overs) | | Collis King 57* Dirk Scott 2/32 (7 overs) |
* West Indies won by 7 wickets Jan Smuts Ground, East London Umpires: Oswald Schoof and Dudley Schoof
* Toss not known
* 19 January 1983 Scorecard
| West Indies 243 (49.2 overs) | v | Eastern Province 158 (44.2 overs) |
| Collis King 71 James Carse 4/31 (9.2 overs) | | Robert Armitage 58 Franklyn Stephenson 5/20 (7.2 overs) |
* West Indies won by 85 runs St George's Park, Port Elizabeth Umpires: Sandy Matthews and Timothy Pole Player of the match: Franklyn Stephenson (WI)
* Toss not known

### First Test

* 21–25 January 1983 (4-day match) Scorecard
* South Africa won by 5 wickets Newlands, Cape Town Umpires: Barry Smith and Oswald Schoof
* South Africa won the toss and elected to bat
* 23 January was a rest day

### Second Test

* 28 January-1 February 1983 (4-day match) Scorecard
* West Indies won by 29 runs New Wanderers Stadium, Johannesburg Umpires: Cyril Mitchley and Dudley Schoof
* South Africa won the toss and decided to field
* 30 January was a rest day
* 3 February 1983 Scorecard
| Natal 202/8 (50 overs) | v | West Indies 118 (38.3 overs) |
| Barry Richards 54 Franklyn Stephenson 4/46 (9 overs) | | Colin Croft 33 Kenneth Cooper 3/26 (6 overs) |
* Natal won by 84 runs Kingsmead, Durban Umpires: Denzil Bezuidenhout and Karl Liebenberg
* Toss not known

### First ODI

* 5 February 1983 Scorecard
| South Africa 250/7 (50 overs) | v | West Indies 159 (44.3 overs) |
| Barry Richards 102 Ezra Moseley 2/43 (10 overs) | | Alvin Greenidge 32 Alan Kourie 3/24 (10 overs) |
* South Africa won by 91 runs St George's Park, Port Elizabeth Umpires: Desmond Sansom and Dudley Schoof
* South Africa won the toss and decided to bat

### Second ODI

* 7 February 1983 Scorecard
| South Africa 194/8 (50 overs) | v | West Indies 151 (40.4 overs) |
| Ken McEwan 61 Bernard Julien 3/17 (10 overs) | | Emmerson Trotman 46 Stephen Jefferies 3/21 (10 overs) |
* South Africa won by 43 runs Newlands, Cape Town Umpires: Cyril Mitchley and Denzil Bezuidenhout
* South Africa won the toss and decided to bat

### Third ODI

* 9 February 1983 Scorecard
| South Africa 179/9 (50 overs) | v | West Indies 167 (47 overs) |
| Ken McEwan 38 Ezra Moseley 4/27 (10 overs) | | Franklyn Stephenson 35 Vintcent van der Bijl 3/21 (8 overs) |
* South Africa won by 12 runs Berea Park, Pretoria Umpires: Cyril Mitchley and Dudley Schoof
* South Africa won the toss and decided to bat

### Fourth ODI

* 11 February 1983 (D/N) Scorecard
| South Africa 139 (42.1 overs) | v | West Indies 141/3 (37.4 overs) |
| Graeme Pollock 23 Franklyn Stephenson 3/30 (7.1 overs) | | Lawrence Rowe 32* Stephen Jefferies 2/22 (10 overs) |
* West Indies won by 7 wickets New Wanderers Stadium, Johannesburg Umpires: Oswald Schoof and Sydney Moore
* Toss not known

### Fifth ODI

* 12 February 1983 Scorecard
| South Africa 228/6 (50 overs) | v | West Indies 171 (41.3 overs) |
| Robert Armitage 46 Derick Parry 2/38 (10 overs) | | Lawrence Rowe 71 Rupert Hanley 4/25 (10 overs) |
* South Africa won by 57 runs New Wanderers Stadium, Johannesburg Umpires: Cyril Mitchley and Oswald Schoof
* Toss not known
* Rupert Hanley took a hat-trick in the West Indies innings (Rowe, Parry, Clarke)

### Sixth ODI

* 13 February 1983 Scorecard
| West Indies 155 (36.5 overs) | v | South Africa 71 (25.5 overs) |
| Collis King 60 Stephen Jefferies 3/21 (9 overs) | | Jimmy Cook 29 Franklyn Stephenson 6/9 (6.5 overs) |
* West Indies won by 84 runs Kingsmead, Durban Umpires: Denzil Bezuidenhout and Dudley Schoof
* West Indies won the toss and decided to bat

### CEB Rice Benefit Match

* 15 February 1983 (45-over match) Scorecard
| West Indies 254/9d (42 overs) | v | South Africa 228 (40.4 overs) |
| Richard Austin 91 Rupert Hanley 3/48 (8 overs) | | Graeme Pollock 62 Alvin Kallicharran 3/69 (9 overs) |
* West Indies won by 26 runs Rovers Cricket Club, Welkom
* Toss not known
* Rowe declared because David Murray could not find his cricket trousers in time to bat

## Aftermath

The West Indian players were given life bans in all forms of the game, depriving West Indian cricket of a large amount of player talent. Despite earning much money from the tour many West Indian players faced social stigma and unemployment afterwards with nine leaving the Caribbean altogether as a result. Though the ban was lifted in 1989 only one of the players, Ezra Moseley, was selected to play for the West Indies post 1989.