Cricket’s dressing rooms have questions to answer over black players’ isolation | Andy Bull

The Black Lives Matter movement has highlighted problems faced by players who have felt alienated by teammates

Back in July the South African fast bowler Lungi Ngidi answered a question about the Black Lives Matter movement: “It’s something we will be addressing as a team,” he said, “and if we are not, it’s something I will bring up.” It was a tiny spark, but it started a fire that has burned through the South African winter, as more and more black players have started to open up about their unhappy experiences playing for the national team. In the end, Cricket South Africa launched a Social Justice and Nation Building project, to investigate whether it ought to pay reparations to players who were discriminated against.

Makhaya Ntini was one of the men who spoke out. He talked about how isolated he felt during his long international career. “I was forever lonely,” he said. Ntini used to run to and from the ground because he felt so uncomfortable on the team bus. Graeme Smith was captain then, and is the director of cricket now. He has defended himself strongly against any accusation that he discriminated against players. He has also said he was surprised to learn at last how unhappy Ntini was, and has spoken frankly about the mistakes he made in his personal relationships with several players, of all races.

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