South African Rebel Tours - English XI, 1990

English XI, 1990

In 1990, the final tour was led by former England captain Mike Gatting. The team included former and contemporary England players such as batsmen Tim Robinson, Bill Athey and Chris Broad, wicketkeeper Bruce French, and the fast bowlers Paul Jarvis, Graham Dilley and Neil Foster.

Kepler Wessels returned to represent the land of his birth. Roy Pienaar, Dave Rundle and Richard Snell made their debuts for South Africa. Jimmy Cook was appointed as South African captain and Allan Donald took 8 wickets for 59 in the match. South Africa went on to win the only 'Test'. England lost the limited overs series 3–1.

Most of the squad did not play for England again. Gatting served a three-year ban from Test cricket before his recall to the England side for the tour of India and Sri Lanka in 1992–93, along with John Emburey and Paul Jarvis. Emburey made both rebel tours and served two suspensions. Foster subsequently played a solitary Test, against Australia at Lord's in 1993, as did Alan Wells (against the West Indies in 1995).

The squad for the rebel tour was announced during the fourth Test of the 1989 Ashes series in England. Players in the squad were not considered for the rest of the series, which allowed future long-term England players, batsman Michael Atherton and fast bowler Devon Malcolm, an opportunity to make their England debuts.

The tour was a financial disaster as it coincided with the "unbanning" of the African National Congress and the release from prison of Nelson Mandela. As South Africa began the dismantling of apartheid, Ali Bacher was surprised at the scale of the mass demonstrations against the tour as previous rebel tours had passed smoothly in the country. The second tour scheduled for 1990-91 was cancelled.

• Squad: Mike Gatting (captain), Bill Athey, Kim Barnett, Chris Broad, Chris Cowdrey, Graham Dilley, Richard Ellison, John Emburey, Neil Foster, Bruce French, Paul Jarvis, Matthew Maynard, Tim Robinson, Greg Thomas, Alan Wells, David Graveney (player/manager).