[2] Nicknamed "Dolly",[3] D'Oliveira played county cricket for Worcestershire from 1964 to 1980, and appeared for England in 44 Test matches and four One Day Internationals between 1966 and 1972.
[4] As a boy he visited the Newlands Cricket Ground in Cape Town and climbed the trees outside to watch the games.
D'Oliveira was quietly efficient in the final Test as England turned the tables on the West Indies, winning by an innings and 34 runs to lose the series 3–1.
Pakistan next visited England in 1971, and D'Oliveira enjoyed a fine series with the bat, making 241 runs at an average of 60.25.
When he toured Australia in 1970–71 on the night after they won the series 2–0 he pushed his forefinger into the chest of every Australian he met, saying "We stuffed you.
After his death, journalist Pat Murphy with whom he collaborated on his autobiography stated:[5] Basil had to lie about his age because he thought if they realised how old he was they would not pick him for England.
There was dissent in the press to this course of events and when Warwickshire's Tom Cartwright was ruled out because of injury, D'Oliveira was called up into the squad.
[15] The D'Oliveira Affair had a massive impact in turning international opinion against the apartheid regime in South Africa.
In 1980, after the end of his playing career, he wrote an autobiography with the BBC's Pat Murphy, titled Time to Declare.
In it, he stated for the first time that he was glad that the proposed South African cricket tour to England in 1970 was called off, for fear of public disturbances.
[21][22] He was namechecked in the first episode of the BBC comedy Fawlty Towers (aired in September 1975) with the character of The Major exclaiming that "D'Oliveira made a hundred!".
[24][25][26] A farewell for D'Oliveira was written on the last 2011 issue of Time magazine by Trevor Manuel, South Africa's Minister in the Presidency for National Planning.
[27] A memorial service was held in Worcester Cathedral on 27 January 2012; Sir Michael Parkinson gave one of the eulogies.