Brett D’Oliveira became the third generation from his family to score a limited overs hundred for Worcestershire as they thrashed Essex by 182 runs in English county cricket’s One-Day Cup on Thursday.
D’Oliveira’s 123 was actually the smaller contribution to an opening partnership of 243 that also featured Jack Haynes’ 153, his maiden professional century.
Worcestershire compiled a huge total of 338-7 in their 50 overs before hosts Essex were bowled out for 156 at Chelmsford, with 29-year-old leg-spinner D’Oliveira rounding off a memorable match by taking three wickets for eight runs.
Both the late Basil and Damian D’Oliveira, Brett’s grandfather and father, were middle-order batsmen for Worcestershire and they each later coached the Midlands county.
Basil D’Oliveira also played Test cricket for England after leaving his native South Africa because, as a ‘Cape Coloured’, he could not take part in first-class cricket in his homeland under the then apartheid regime.
The refusal of the South African government to accept D’Oliveira’s call-up into the England squad for a 1968/69 tour saw English cricket chiefs call off their trip in an incident that sparked more than 20 years of international cricket isolation for South Africa.
© Agence France-Presse
