Ashwell Prince breaks silence on racism row
Former South African batsman Ashwell Prince has claimed that many players received racist slurs during the 2005 Australian tour, and were urged to play regardless. He believes there was no system, stating the team lacked unity for a decade while he was part of the national squad. Earlier this week, Cricket South Africa issued a statement expressing support for 'Black Lives Matter' campaign.
Prince said the system has been broken in CSA. "The system is broken and has been for some time in our beloved SA, both in society and in sport," his tweet read. "We return from isolation and we say to the world, we're back, oh, by the way, there's still no black people who can play the game, but we brought a few along."
"Some Proteas fans might have been shocked and disappointed. Truth be told, well at least for the 10 years that I'd spent there, there had never been any UNITY! Australia 2005, a number of us encountered racist incidents on the boundary," he added.
Prince said the the higher authorities were always lenient towards the issue. "When we brought this to the attention of the leadership at lunch, we were told, "ah it's only some people in the crowd, not the majority, let's get back out there." 2007 WC semi-final 60/6 absolutely blown away by Aus, who's to blame, TRANSFORMATION. Absolutely zero ownership," he tweeted.
On Thursday, Cricket South Africa (CSA) extended its support towards 'Black Lives Matter' movement. The cricket board said it is open to educate and listen to others on topics involving all forms of discrimination. As per reports, CSA will spread the message of anti-racism through the 'Black Lives Matter' campaign on the Nelson Mandela International Day (July 18).
The movement flared up following the death of an African-American man named George Floyd. Its impact could be seen in the ongoing Test match between England and West Indies. Ahead of the first day's play, players from both sides took a knee to show their solidarity against racism. They are also sporting a 'Black Lives Matter' logo on their jerseys.
