Smith, Boucher and De Villiers bear the brunt of SJN criticism

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SJN REPORT

Paul Adams said he was called “brown shit” by his teammates in a locker room song. Among these players was Boucher. © Getty

In the annals of South African cricket, Graeme Smith, Mark Boucher and AB de Villiers are generally presented as heroes. On Wednesday, they were cast among the chief villains of the game’s past and present struggles to overcome racism.

The three former players, all major figures in the global game, were damned in the report produced by the Social Justice and Nationbuilding Project (SJN), the independent inquiry established by CSA to investigate allegations of historic racial wrongdoing. . The document was produced based on testimony gathered from affidavits and 35 days of hearings that began on July 5. The process took five months – it was originally scheduled to last three months – and, CSA said Wednesday, cost the equivalent of $ 463,000, compared to $ 309,000 budgeted.

Of the three, De Villiers can breathe easier as he doesn’t depend on South African cricket for a living or anything else. But that’s not the case for Smith, the director of CSA cricket, and Boucher, the head coach of the men’s national team.

A CSA statement accompanying the release of the SJN’s 235-page report did not specify what action, if any, should be taken against Smith and Boucher. It is also unclear whether those involved speak to their lawyers. The statement did not say whether the CSA accepted the SJN’s findings. The report also didn’t offer any concrete recommendations beyond saying that the transformation ombud’s office, in this case filled by senior lawyer Dumisa Ntsebeza, should be made permanent. That said, the CSA surely wouldn’t want much pain expressed publicly – the hearings were broadcast live online – and months of hard work and significant expense to represent nothing.

Smith was the captain of South Africa when Boucher’s career ended with an eye injury at Taunton in July 2012. Thami Tsolekile, who had played three tests against India in November 2004, was the heir apparent as a player under a CSA contract. But the wicket-keeper position went to De Villiers, who had only kept three of his 74 tests so far. Quinton de Kock succeeds De Villiers. In either case, it could be argued that the team’s balance was strengthened by their selection. But Tsolekile was denied his chance. He never played for South Africa again and his career ended miserably when he was one of seven players who confessed to having plans to repair during the T20 franchise competition in 2015.

“It is difficult to rule out Mr Tsolekile’s run as the main reason he failed in the Proteas,” the report said. “The CSA, Mr. Graeme Smith and some of the coaches of the day really failed Mr. Tsolekile and many black players of his day in a lot of ways.”

In the hearings’ most explosive testimony, Paul Adams said he was called “brown shit” by his teammates in a locker room song. Among those players was Boucher, who, in a 14-page affidavit to SJN, admitted his guilt, apologized and said he was also given a racial nickname. The report says Boucher showed “a lack of sensitivity and understanding of racist undertones” in his comments. “Due to the history of this country, the gravity of calling people racially connotated nicknames will not weigh in the same way for blacks. It is disappointing that Mr. Boucher seems to dislike this salient common understanding. ” Boucher’s apology was “backed up by an excuse that the comments he made were within a team context, as if racism could be excused if it was made within a team.” Boucher’s submission “show[s] an alarming and worrying reality which [he does] not understand South African apartheid / discriminatory and racist history “.

De Villiers was denounced for his insistence that Dean Elgar and not Khaya Zondo take the place of injured JP Duminy for the decisive ODI series game in India in October 2015. Zondo had been included in the XI, but was withdrawn after De Villiers complained to the CSA and to the selectors. The report stated that he had done so “just to ensure that a black player was not placed in a position that he considered to require more experience” and that “the only reasonable conclusion is that Mr. . De Villiers unfairly discriminated against Mr. Zondo on racial grounds. ”

Smith, Boucher and De Villiers made submissions to the SJN, and on Wednesday after the report was released, De Villiers said, through his agent Edward Griffiths: “I have fully supported the goals of the justice process. social and nation-building Cricket South Africa, to ensure a level playing field in our game. However, throughout my career, I have expressed honest opinions about cricket solely on the basis of what I believed be the best for the team, never based on anyone’s race. This is the fact. ”

Smith and Boucher will have to be more careful. So far, they haven’t said anything.

© Cricbuzz

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