UCBSA president dispels fears
Fakir Hassen
"Cricket authorities are not trying to chase away white players in their attempt to transform the game in South Africa," said the President of the United Cricket Board of South Africa (UCBSA).
The newly re-elected UCBSA chief, Percy Sonn, said it was "ridiculous" to
claim that white cricketers were being excluded from the game.
Sonn defended the transformation plans of the UCBSA after being
elected to a second term to head the Board. He said the UCBSA, since its
inception in 1991, could be proud of its decisions to reflect the new
democratic order of South Africa in cricket as well.
"And what is great about it is that we were hardly aware of this as we went about the process," Sonn said. Previously, apartheid legislation restricted the national team to being white only.
He said that this season seven of the nine provinces would have black bosses. The majority of people in the executive of the UCBSA was also black, including the chief executive, Gerald Majola, who last year became the first black executive in the history of cricket in South Africa.
Sonn said the fact that the UCBSA had produced 50 first-class black players
from among it affiliates, against a target of 33 for the season, showed that
the so-called "fast-tracking" process to draw previously disadvantaged
communities into the game was on track.
Indo-Asian News Service
