BOMBAY, 3 February 2006 — It is ironical, yet very sad, that the country that practiced segregation on the basis of race and color is today being discriminated against by, of all the people, the more liberal Australians.

Several cases of such abuse on players of the South African cricket team have been reported ever since the squad visited Down Under for a tri-series of one-day matches. What is surprising is that even white players have been subjected to such humiliation.

The third team in the tri-series Sri Lanka, belonging to Asian ethnicity, however, have not been so harassed. But they have joined the South African Cricket Board as well as Cricket Australia in thoroughly investigating such acts from spectators in order to root out racism from international cricket.

The International Cricket Council have taken a very serious view of the situation, even as South African officials have threatened to boycott future tour of Australia. In a move considered highly significant, the ICC has appointed India’s Solicitor-General Goolam Vahanvati to investigate cases of racial abuse. This follows an official complaint by both the South African and Australian Cricket Boards.

It may be recalled that Justice Vahanvati had earlier been appointed for a similar job when there were cases of racial discrimination in Zimbabwe in 2004. Vahanvati will speak to staff and security personnel at the various match venues as also the officials of Cricket Australia. He will also speak to representatives of ICC during his visit to Australia. He will then travel to South Africa and Sri Lanka to interview players and team officials from all these sides that participated in the recent Tests and ODI series before reporting back to the ICC in March.

“Racism in any form is abhorrent and everyone in cricket is unhappy with the way in which players from international teams have been subjected to racist abuse in Australia,” said Malcolm Speed, the ICC chief executive.

“The actions of what would seem to be a small number of people are reflecting poorly on Australia and on the game cricket. It is essential that this issue is addressed. “

“What is now important is that the ICC is provided with a clear and independent understanding of exactly what has taken place to ensure that cricket is able to respond appropriately. The entire international cricket community is united in its commitment to doing everything possible to eradicate any racist abuse. “

“Once the ICC executive board has received this report, we will be in a position to identify what further steps cricket can take to tackle this issue before it spreads beyond the incidents that have taken place in Australia, Speed said.

It may be recalled that South Africa had been in cricket exile for 22 years after they were banned by the then Imperial Cricket Conference for following their government’s policy of apartheid in cricket. In fact, South Africa was barred from all sports including the Olympic Games and the Commonwealth Games. England had twice cancelled their intended tour of South Africa because they refused to accept Basil D’Oliveira in the touring team.