Australia U19 Cricketers Face Sanctions for Social Media Posts Before India QF

Racism seems to have reared its ugly head once again in cricket as members of Australia’s U19 side, currently in South Africa for the ICC U19 World Cup, could face sanctions for mocking non-English players before their quarter-final against India.

Cricket Australia’s head of integrity and security Sean Carroll has spoken with those players who recently posted broken-English responses to an Instagram post.

“We are extremely disappointed that some of the Australian Under-19 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 said in a statement. “Some of that language could be interpreted as ridiculing non-native English language speakers.”

Jake Fraser-McGurk, whose tournament ended earlier than he would have liked after being scratched on the face by a monkey, made an Instagram post which said “Quarter-finals here we come”, and batsman Oliver Davies wrote: “Sir great player, big fan, and will play India one day.”

Spinner Tanveer Sangha added, “You hit ball very hard sir” while all-rounder Liam Scott wrote, “Sir give me whatsapp number I want to be friend”. Middle-order batsman Lachlan Hearne then posted, “Young Steve Smith sir” and opening bat Sam Fanning: “How u bat so good young man.”

The posts have been deleted since the controversy broke out.

“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,” Carroll said.

“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. Most of the players do not have their parents present with them in South Africa and some of them are minors. Accordingly, we believe it is appropriate to consider sanctions upon their return home.”

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