Australia U19 cricketers face punishment by Cricket Australia over Casual Racism. Australia’s governing is said to be extremely disappointed.
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The Australian team are infamous for pushing the boundaries regarding what is acceptable behaviour in the game. In recent times however, the country has made painstaking efforts to change their image following the ball tampering incident.
At a time when the country is still attempting to rid itself of the shameful tag of cheaters, their U-19 team made matters worse for them by inviting claims of the side being racists as well. The Australian colts sparked controversy on Social Media when they appeared to be mocking Indian fans during the U-19 World Cup.
Prior to their humiliating defeat to India in the quarter-finals, Australian opener Jake Fraser-McGurk posted a photo on Instagram with the caption, “Quarterfinals, here we come!”
Several of his teammates then commented on the picture in broken English that seemingly made fun of the fans from the sub-continent.
“Sir, give me whatsapp number I want to be friend,” Scott commented.
“You hit ball very hard sir,” Sangha wrote.
“Sir great player, big fan and will play for India one day,” read a comment from all-rounder Ollie Davies.
Australia U19 cricketers face punishment by Cricket Australia over Casual Racism
Despite the players deleting their comments, screenshots of the conversation has been circulated by angered fans. The fans have since forced the Australia’s U-19s Instagram account to disable comments following the loss to India in the Quarter-final.
CA’s head of integrity and security, Sean Carroll has also responded to the situation saying that the players have apologised for their actions but still face sanctions.
“We are extremely disappointed that some of the Australian under-19s squad members have used inappropriate language in posts on social media, which we reported to the ICC as soon as it came to our attention,” Carroll told The Australian.
“I have spoken to the players this morning and expressed in no uncertain terms that such language has no place in society and falls well short of the standards we expect as Australian cricketers.
“Cricket Australia will consider sanctions upon their return home from South Africa, which will include but not be limited to education and cultural sensitivity training.”
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