SA black cricketers allege racial divide
JOHANNESBURG:RACIAL divisions in South African cricket were laid bare on Tuesday when 30 black former international players issued a statement alleging racism remained a factor in the game.
The letter commended current fast bowler Lungi Ngidi, who last week expressed support for Black Lives Matter, and called for Cricket South Africa (CSA) to come out strongly in favour of the movement.
Signatories included fast bowler Makhaya Ntini, who played in 101 Test matches, and other former stars such as Vernon Philander, Herschelle Gibbs, Ashwell Prince, Paul Adams and JP Duminy. A total of 36 people, including five coaches, were named on the document.
Current black players such as Kagiso Rabada and Ngidi were not included, nor were any white players.
The statement claimed despite three decades of cricket unity, “the views expressed from one side of the racial divide are still very much part of our lives...
We see this an opportunity for CSA to be unequivocal about its position and to make sure the problem is confronted and we also invite our fellow white cricketers to join in this move to defend human dignity.”
There was no immediate response from CSA.
NBA ANNOUNCES TWO MORE COVID POSITIVES ORLANDO: The first week of the NBA’S “bubble” plan to keep its teams safe from the coronavirus proved successful.
The league and the players union jointly announced Monday that only two players tested positive for the coronavirus among the 322 players tested since arriving July 7 at the Walt Disney World Resort near Orlando.
According to the press release, the two players with Covid-19
“never cleared quarantine and have since left the Campus to isolate at home or in isolation housing.” The statement added that another 19 players tested positive for the coronavirus during in-market testing that began July 1 before teams headed to central Florida.
OUSTED HI PREZ CLAIMS MINISTRY IS BIASED
NEW DELHI: Former Hockey India President Mohd. Mushtaq Ahmad, who resigned after his election was declared violative of the national sports code by the sports ministry, on Tuesday said the “belated decision smells (of) bad intention” as other violators have not been penalised.
He also expressed suspicion that the action against him was influenced by him “being from minority community”.
All these charges were made in a widely-circulated letter to Sports Secretary Ravi Mittal. When contacted, a ministry official, on conditions of anonymity, said, “The ministry acted as per rules. We have already made that very clear in our earlier communication to Hockey India. There is nothing more to it, nothing more to say.”