South Africa's players have been made to run the gauntlet of ``hostile and often acriminous racial abuse'' when playing touring teams in tests and one-day internationals.
As the now retired test bowler Fanie de Villiers, along with Pat Symcox and Paddy Upton, attend the meetings of the UCB disciplinary committee, over charges of ``offensive remarks'' there have been a radical suggestion Kingsmead be removed from the test match and ODI schedule until spectators learn to behave.
Players are being subject to slegeding tactics as bad as those encountered in Australia and even worse spectator behaviour.
De Villiers and Upton went to a section of the crowd from where fantatical Pakistan supporters of South African origin had baited Jacques Kallis and Allan Donald with racist remarks. But, says an official who declined to be indentified, the provocation of the players was being carefully orchestrated with older men using children, sosme as young as 10.
Both security and police declined to intervene in what the official described as ``the worst kind of foul language imaginable''.
The UCB discplinary committee is chaired by Ronnie Pillay, a supreme court judge and includes Alan Jordaan, manager of the team that toured Australia.
Trevor Chesterfield Cricket writer Pretoria News tche@ptn.independent.co.za
Source: Trevor Chesterfield
Contributed by CricInfo Management
help@cricinfo.com
Date-stamped : 14 Mar1998 - 14:35