Cricket race row simmers ahead of Saturday's Centurion showcase

Some cricketers will don the Black Lives Matter logo when they play in Saturday’s inaugural Solidarity Cup, bolstered by the countless top-tier players who have spoken out against racism in the sport — but for many the real work has yet to begin.

The Solidarity Cup — showcasing a unique format known as 3Team Cricket — is being  played at SuperSport Park, Centurion, and is the first top-class live cricket match in SA since the lockdown.

It also comes amid a fierce debate in the wake of comments made during a Zoom press conference by Proteas cricketer Lungi Ngidi, who proclaimed his allegiance to the Black Lives Matter (BLM) movement and said discrimination and racism were still issues within SA society — and the world of cricket.

The BLM issue has shown up racial divisions in SA cricket, with 30 black former international players claiming earlier this week that racism remained a factor in the game, 29 years after the formation of a single controlling body.

Criticism has also been levelled at Cricket SA (CSA) over the choice of captains for the three teams  —  the Kingfishers, the Kites and the Eagles — contesting Saturday’s showcase, with some questioning why all three skippers were white.

However, Cricket SA said in a statement late on Friday that they would change the captaincy of the Kingfishers, which would now be led by Reeza Hendricks, “after organisers recognised  and acknowledged the importance to walk the talk in matters of transformation”.

Earlier, CSA transformation and stakeholder engagement executive Max Jordan had said the initial choice of white captains was unfortunate, but a result of some players having had to pull out.

On whether the players who felt so inclined would be able to wear a BLM logo or “take the knee” before the match — a BLM solidarity gesture that has gained in popularity since the killing by US police of George Floyd — Jordaan said they were free to express themselves individually.

Ngidi has received considerable backing for his stance, but also came in for some criticism, including from the likes of former players Pat Symcox and Boeta Dippenaar, who questioned why people were not standing up for murdered SA farmers.

On Friday, former national captain Faf du Plessis made his voice heard  in an Instagram post, saying he supported  BLM and that his backing for the campaign came at a time when there were many injustices in SA.

“I’ve remained silent, with the intent to listen, but not respond ... slowing down my point of view, but quicker to hear the pain of someone else,” Du Plessis, who will be turning out for the Kingfishers on Saturday, said.

“I knew that words would be lacking and that my understanding is not close to where it needs to be.

“I surrender my opinions and take the knee as an intercessor.

“I acknowledge that SA is still hugely divided by racism and it is my personal responsibility to do my best to empathise, hear the stories, learn and then be part of the solution with my thoughts, words and actions,” he said.

Former SA cricketer Alviro Petersen this week told Weekend Post it was concerning racism was still such a hot topic, especially in cricket.

“It is sad that in 2020 we are still talking about racism and inequality.

“Players should be selected on merit. What we want is a level playing field.

“I support ‘all lives matter’ but we can only do this if we all support Black Lives Matter.

“We come from a very brutal past and this should not be a situation of ‘them versus us’.

“We go on to the field to win as a team or as a franchise.”

Petersen said he could recall a situation where he was once part of a team meeting with a franchise he did not name and which was not doing well.

According to Petersen, the coach and captain of the team asked players for input on how they could better their chances of winning.

“I gave my opinion and they came back to me and said ‘you shouldn’t say something because you are an average player and not good enough for this team’.

“I took that as racist because there were other [white] players with lower averages and that wasn’t said to them.

“You have to be so careful. You don’t want to step on any toes, you need to know what to say and what not to say,” Petersen said.

He said the majority of top-tier players “are good guys and don’t see colour” but it was “frighteningly sad” to see there were still those who used race to sideline others.

Former Proteas player Lonwabo Tsotsobe said people were misunderstanding the concept of BLM. Ngidi’s stance was not aimed at highlighting racism but rather a quest for equality.

According to Tsotsobe, the people who could make real change in sport were those in administrative positions.

“We need to discuss these issues and resolve them, it is something that needs to be addressed,” Tsotsobe said.

In a televised interview on Friday, former Proteas fast bowler Makhaya Ntini said the mindset in cricket needed to be reset.

Speaking to the SABC, Ntini recalled how he had always felt alone during his cricket career.

“I would watch friends calling each other and making plans right in front of me and I would not be invited.

“I would even see them walk inside the breakfast room and not come sit next to me.

“We played in the same team and shared the same bus but I always felt alone,” he said.

Ntini said he would run to the stadium and back to the hotel on match days to avoid the isolation on the team bus.

Former CEO of Cricket SA  and former CEO of the International Cricket Council, Hooran Lorgat said it was not surprising that transformation in cricket was back in the news as it had been an issue for some time.

“It was just a matter of time before it all erupted.

“It is disappointing for me to see in cricket specifically, things have gone backwards in the past two years.

“I am not saying for one minute that cricket has not tried.

“Black Lives Matter is not only an issue in cricket, but all sports and internationally.”

Lorgat said the burden of transformation had been passed on to the CSA board time after time and unfortunately there were some executives on the board, whom he did not name, who were not fully in line with transformation in sport.

“I don’t believe we will solve the problem of racism in sport without societal and household changes.”

Lorgat said the current CSA board was “pretty weak”.

CSA, however, said the organisation stood in solidarity with BLM.

Cricket SA’s acting CEO, Dr Jacques Faul, said: “Black Lives Matter. It is as simple as that.

“As a national sporting body representing more than 56m South Africans and with the privileged position of owning a platform as large as we do, it is of vital importance that we use our voice to educate and listen to others on topics involving all forms of discrimination.”

Speaking about Saturday’s match, Jordan said it was unfortunate that some players had to be replaced due to processes and protocols which needed to be adhered to.

Jordan said they had been limited to a finite pool of players due to health and other protocols.

“There was no luxury to spread the net wide. We have to be balanced and in terms of the processes involved we are comfortable with the selections,” he said.

Asked about reports that all the players in Saturday’s three-team match would be wearing BLM logos, Jordan said it was up to the players themselves to decide.

“It is up to their own convictions.”

Meanwhile, EP Cricket and the EP Warriors Cricket franchise issued a joint statement on Thursday.  

The statement read: “It is not enough to merely condemn incidents of racism and to publicly support the Black Lives Matter movement. Something tangible must be done to put an end to racism at all levels of the sport — and particularly at professional level where the example needs to be set.

“For our part, both boards are committed to supporting the Black Lives Matter movement and will assist CSA where necessary to identify and eradicate racism in SA cricket.”  — Additional reporting AFP