The dark side of the Don: Bradman, the board and Apartheid

Abstract

Bradman has been credited with contributing to the sporting boycott of South Africa in the late 1960s and 1970s over its Apartheid policy. This position is based on Bradman's decision as Chairman of the Australian Board of Control to cancel the 1970–1971 South African cricket tour of Australia, and ignores the fact that in later life Bradman regretted adopting this course of action. Drawing on extensive papers from the National Australia Archives, this paper reveals that throughout this period, Bradman and the Board lobbied Australian politicians and diplomats in an attempt to keep white South African cricket in the international arena. Under the McMahon Liberal Coalition government the Departments of External Affairs and Prime Minister and Cabinet assisted the Board clandestinely. With the election of the Whitlam Labor government in December 1972, however, the position hardened against sporting contacts with South Africa. Sports bodies and individuals were discouraged from visiting South Africa, while South African sporting teams were barred from entering Australia. As this paper shows, the Board and Bradman attempted to organize a tour of the South Africa in 1975–1976, but were undermined by the Whitlam government.