Sickening and Ugly Racist Aussies at the Cricket Grounds in Australia

Sickening and Ugly Racist Aussies at the Cricket Grounds in Australia

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Cricket's world governing body the ICC has appointed India's Solicitor General Goolam Vahanvati to investigate alleged racist abuse by fans in Australia. Players from South Africa and Sri Lanka have both been subject to abuse during their current tours. ICC chief executive Malcolm Speed expressed his organisation's determination to stamp out the problem. Read here for more

Goolam Vahanvati will investigate the appalling crowd behaviour at Australian grounds, including the state's main stadium in Brisbane. Stump microphones have been turned down so viewers aren't shocked by the players swearing, but the words in the stands this summer have been much more upsetting. South Africa have complained throughout the tour of racial taunts, which have resulted in a handful of offenders being ejected and the threat of future boycotts, and last week the Sri Lankans were targeted as "black c****" in Adelaide and Sydney. The mainstream theory condemns ex-pat South Africans for bringing in words like "kaffir", as if the only place the pure locals have seen them is in cookbooks next to vine leaves. "Don't blame Australians for the racist remarks," a reader wrote to Cricinfo's feedback this week. "They were made by South Africans now living in Australia." However, national immaturity prevents Australia from recognising the racism even though terms such as "Lebs", "blacks" and "Abos" appear in many conversations. Yesterday a sports-loving gentleman at a club morning tea wondered what all the fuss was about: "They've been called kaffirs all their life, why does it matter now?"
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Australian cricketers are bracing themselves for hostile receptions during the coming tour of South Africa amid fears fans will seek payback for the racial abuse directed at the Proteas by Australian crowds this summer.But the racism probe that is set to start in Australia might prompt a wave of new abuse towards Ricky Ponting and his players.Read here for more

For South Africans, racism is still a raw wound. For Australia, it is a problem with which they still need to come to terms if the Cronulla riots are anything to go by. Some Australians - judged by comments and letters in their newspapers - believe South Africans are far too sensitive regarding the racial abuse to which the Proteas cricketers have been subjected over the past two months. These Aussies claim that it is in the nature of sports crowds to be crude. Read here for more

South Africa's Makhaya Ntini, the first South African black Test player, has been abused in Australia .

Aussie iconic pastimes have been marred by a series of racist incidents that have shocked most people and threatened the future of international cricket tours down under.

Less violent, but in some ways disturbing, have been the growing number of racist taunts that have since sullied international cricket grounds throughout the summer.

Spectators at the first Test in Perth subjected some members of the South African cricketers to crude apartheid-era insults.

Fast bowler Makhaya Ntini and several other players were called "kaffirs" and "kaffir boetie" (brother of blacks) by people in the West Australia's cricket crowd.

Although the remarks were widely condemned, there was a suspicion that the culprits may not have been Australian.

After all, Western Australia has a lot of white South African immigrants.

INCIDENTS AT GROUNDS IN 2005/06

11-14 Dec: South African players complain of racial abuse during first Test in Perth

2-6 Jan: Andre Nel complains of racial abuse while fielding in third Test in Sydney

10 Jan: South Africans again abused during warm-up for one-day game at the Gabba, Brisbane; one spectator ejected

20 Jan: Spectator at Melbourne's Telstra Dome ejected after reportedly punching an ICC official and accusing him of being South African

26 Jan: Sri Lankans abused at Adelaide Oval; five spectators ejected

But the theory that racism in cricket may be geographically isolated or simply un-Australian has since been shown to be false.

During the Test series with South Africa and the current one-day VB Series that also features Sri Lanka, every single one of Australia's major grounds has experienced similar racial abuse.

Sri Lanka did not formally complain at the Adelaide Oval when their players were abused, but five offenders were identified and swiftly ejected from the ground.

The South Africans have found the experience so painful that they have even spoken of ending their tour early and not coming back.

Recognising the seriousness of the situation, Cricket Australia chief executive James Sutherland has called for urgent action.

He wants the nation's legislators to pass measures allowing heavy fines and life bans to be levied on the "half-a dozen half-wits" he says are to blame.

And he points out that "nearly one million Australian spectators have offered a warm and enthusiastic welcome to South Africa's, West Indies' and Sri Lanka's cricketers this summer".

The Australia team has a reputation for playing hard and sledging their opponents to gain a psychological edge.

South Africa captain Graeme Smith wants cricket to take the racist issue as seriously as football's rule-makers.

The International Cricket Council has announced it will investigate the allegations by sending India's solicitor general to Australia to compile a report.

Sutherland said he expects the fallout from the report to raise the question of possible sanctions against countries seen to have a problem with racism.

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