with a promising career in front of him. He had repeatedly turned down offers to play in South Africa. But the day the team left, Stephenson had a change of heart. I knew the tour was more important than being just cricket, Stephenson said. I believe that cricket can make a difference, and I 'm going to be a part of that team. On the plane, Stephenson recalled, some of the players began having second thoughts. But it was too late -- they were on their way to South Africa, to face apartheid head on. When we got to South Africa, I realized that separation, and it was n't only black and white, he said. It's the language that you speak, the area that you live in, and it's what you 're allowed to do, and where you can go. So the divisions were very real when we got there. Unsure of how they 'd be received by the country's mainly white fanbase, the West Indies rebels prepared for their first Test match. But their worries soon proved unfounded -- in droves, crowds came out to see the famous cricketers. We packed them in, said Murray. We turned out 20,000 in Pretoria, the heart of apartheid. As the tour went on, the players began to believe something more important than just cricket was taking place. Young kids -- white kids -- were begging them for autographs. It seemed South African fans could n't get enough of the black cricketers from the West Indies. For the first time,