years from international cricket. Yallop's first summer in South Africa was not successful and Hughes publicly criticised his contribution, saying "Yallop's unavailability has cost us dearly on tour. Had Yallop been fit and in the right frame of mind ... you've got to want to play. As vice-captain you've got a huge responsibility. People such as [Mick] Taylor, who had no reputations, have made one for themselves, while Yallop, who had all the reputation, has not really done anything." He played better the following year when he was no longer the vice-captain of the side, scoring 552 runs at an average of 61.33. Yallop later said he had "mixed emotions" about the rebel tours. "Knowing now what it was like there, there were certain things they kept from us, certain things we weren't meant to see but did. But hindsight is a wonderful thing, isn't it? Certainly we enjoyed it while we were there. But reflecting on it, there's mixed emotions. Disappointing thing, politics." At the time Australian Prime Minister Bob Hawke was highly critical of the tour, saying that "I and this government will not change our view about that obnoxious system of apartheid. We will not change our position as to it being not right for people to collect themselves and deem themselves an Australian team, to give aid and comfort to that regime in South Africa… which is so blatantly and desperately seeking international legitimacy via the medium of apparent international competition." Hawke called the players "traitors" whilst others labelled them "mercenaries and pariahs". After two seasons in South Africa, Yallop returned to the relative obscurity of district cricket in Melbourne, playing for the South Melbourne and Ringwood clubs. He never played first-class cricket again: the majority of the rebel tourists were embraced by their old states but not the Victorians. Yallop says they were "shunned by the Victorian Cricket Association... We knew the VCA wouldn't pick us. It was disappointing, we could've given a lot to the game at that stage; we weren't that old. But we were certainly shunned by the association." Appraisal Undoubtedly, Yallop was more at home against slow bowling and was considered one of the best players of spinners during an era when few existed. Although not ideally suited to the one-day game, Yallop's ODI figures are good and he played in the World Cups of 1979 and 1983 and toured India