NEW DELHI: The World Test Championship final in Southampton was marred by racist behavior by a few individuals in the crowd on Tuesday. It is learnt that the New Zealand team was at the receiving end of uncharitable words from the crowd – racist slurs were hurled at Ross Taylor.
The security at the venue identified two individuals and they were removed from the venue.
The incident was brought to the notice of the International Cricket Council (ICC) by a viewer on Twitter.
“@ICCMediaComms hey folks, is there anyone at the ground taking note of crowd behaviour? There is a patron yelling abuse at the NZ team. There’s been some pretty inappropriate stuff throughout the day, including reports of racist abuse directed at LRPL Taylor,” a tweet from Dominic da Souza read.
@ClaireFurlong14 @ICCMediaComms hey folks, is there anyone at the ground taking note of crowd behaviour? There is a… https://t.co/pYaAnUQctx
— Dominic da Souza (@teddypaton) 1624378542000
“I wish I were at the ground, but it’s really audible through the live coverage. It’s been mentioned by quite a few viewers here in NZ. Because it’s only a small crowd, it’s transmitting really clearly,” he added.
The ICC team informed the security immediately. The security personnel tracked down the offenders and escorted the two individuals in an hour. ICC confirmed the development to TOI.
@teddypaton @ICCMediaComms Just to let you know, two individuals have been identified and removed from the venue fo… https://t.co/vbL9Fs0USJ
— Claire Furlong (@ClaireFurlong14) 1624380733000
“We received reports of abuse directed at the New Zealand players. Our security team were able to identify the culprits and they were ejected from the ground. We will not tolerate any sort of abusive behavior in cricket,” an ICC spokesperson said in a statement to TOI.
New Zealand pacer Tim Southee said he wasn’t aware of the incident. “This is the first time I heard of it. There’s so much going on in the middle. We want to play cricket in good spirit,” Southee said after the day’s play. New Zealand Cricket (NZC) are in talks with the ICC.
