Racism claim in new book

Black Caps great Ross Taylor says he has experienced racism in New Zealand cricket.

In his autobiography Black and White, released yesterday, the Kiwisamoan star reveals he faced racially charged “banter” in the dressing room from team-mates.

Taylor, who retired from international cricket in April after a career spanning 16 years, doesn’t specify at what level of the game he experienced the racist comments.

“In many ways, dressing-room banter is the barometer. A team-mate used to tell me, ‘You’re half a good guy, Ross, but which half is good? You don’t know what I’m referring to.’ I was pretty sure I did. Other players also had to put up with comments that dwelt on their ethnicity,” Taylor writes.

“In all probability, a Pa¯keha¯ listening to those sorts of comments would think, ‘Oh, that’s okay, it’s just a bit of banter.’ But he’s hearing it as a white person and it’s not directed at people like him. So, there’s no pushback; no one corrects them.”

He says when such comments are made “the onus falls on the targets”.

“You wonder if you should pull them up but worry that you’ll create a bigger problem or be accused of playing the race card by inflating harmless banter into racism. It’s easier to develop a thick skin and let it slide, but is that the right thing to do?”

Taylor represented New Zealand in 112 tests, 236 ODIS, and 102 T20s between 2006 and 2022 and is one of the country’s best players.

He says people in cricket assume he is Ma¯ ori or Indian because the Pacific Island community is dramatically under-represented in the game.

New Zealand Cricket said it was unaware of the allegations.

“NZC deplores racism, is a staunch supporter of the NZ Human Rights Commission’s ‘Give Nothing to Racism’ campaign, and is deeply disappointed Ross has been exposed to this type of behaviour,” a spokesperson said.

“We’ll definitely reach out to Ross to discuss the matter.”