with Dr Ali Bacher

 

A proud member of the South African Jewish community, Dr Aron (Ali) Bacher was the legendary captain of the South African cricket team prior to the international boycott His greatest triumph came when he captained South Africa to a 4-0 series defeat of Australia in 1969/70. In addition to being a GP, Bacher went on to become the head of the South African Cricket Board.

Bacher organised the International rebel tours in the early 1980’s while South Africa was isolated from the rest of the cricketing world due to sanctions. Thereafter, he engineered the formulation of the combined black and white cricket associations and was a key player in bringing South Africa back into the international sporting arena.

Bacher will speak about his remarkable career in sport, the battle to achieve race equality in South Africa and the challenges that face South Africa’s large Jewish community today.

Born to Lithuanian-Jewish parents who emigrated to South Africa, Aron Bacher got his nickname “Ali” from Ali Baba. He studied at the University of Witwatersrand and became a general practitioner. Ali married Shira Teeger and they have three children.