The biography of former South African cricket captain and administrator Dr Ali Bacher was launched in Johannesburg on Monday with Bacher calling it a ”book for the people”, rather than his own life story.
The book, Ali: The Life of Ali Bacher, was written by journalist Rodney Hartman and has a foreword by Nelson Mandela.
Bacher explained that he had often thought about a book but had never really got around to doing anything about it.
”But when [former sports minister] Steve Tshwete died, I felt it was necessary to chronicle the amazing transformation that happened in South African cricket and in the country in general.
”It is not only about my life, but it is a book for the people about South African cricket.”
Hartman has spent the last year talking to more than 80 people who were involved in the life of Bacher. He has been a controversial character, both as a captain and even more so as an administrator, and Hartman has been at pains to highlight that fact.
There are some rather critical comments about Bacher in the book from the likes of former South African cricket board president Geoff Dakin.
”We wanted the book to be balanced so I did not expurgate one line from it, no matter how demeaning it appeared,” said Bacher.
However, those expecting some remarkable revelation on the Hansie Cronje saga will be sorely disappointed. While the book gives much insight into Bacher’s emotions during the incident, there are no great surprises.
There is certainly a lot of detail on the Mike Gatting tour in 1990 that proved to be a watershed moment for South African sport. Its demise brought on the agreed sports moratorium on international tours and began the process of change in the country.
In his foreword, Mandela describes Bacher as ”a great South African who has brought pride to us all and one has no doubt he will continue to contribute to the growth and advancement of our society in other fields he may now choose”.
Perhaps one of the most important people in the book is the unknown ”Little Arnold Perkins”, who decided to nickname his good friend Aron Bacher ”Ali”. — Sapa