Who was the last person to captain South Africa before their international cricket isolation? (05 November 2001)

The last Test that South Africa played before being ostracised for their apartheid policies was against Australia at Port Elizabeth in 1970. The home side was packed with talent, including the likes of Barry Richards, Graeme Pollock, Eddie Barlow, Mike Proctor and Peter Pollock in its ranks; not surprisingly, it won the Test by a whopping 323 runs, thereby sweeping the four-Test series 4-0.

The captain for that series, however, was not one of these skill-drenched players; his admittedly limited Test record reveals an average of 32.33 from 12 Tests, not stellar by any stretch of imagination. It would also not tauten the same imagination to say that the player in question has made more of an impact on South African cricket than any other person.

Dr. Aron Ali Bacher, then a Transvaal right-handed No. 3 batsman and wicket-keeper, has for a decade now been a pillar of the UCBSA's plans for the expansion of South Africa's cricketing structure. Instrumental in fighting for an end to their isolation as well as in their dizzying rise to the top, Dr. Bacher's latest feather to an already well-adorned cap is his successful lobbying for South Africa to host the 2003 World Cup.

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