ICC U-19 World Cup 2020: Australian players to face sanction by Cricket Australia for posting 'racist' comments on Instagram

A day after the Australia U-19 team opening batsman Sam Fanning received two demerit points for elbowing the Indian pacer Akash Singh during the first quarter-final clash of the ongoing ICC U-19 World Cup, few more team members have come under the scanner for showing disrespect to the non-English speakers. Last week, batsman Jake Fraser-McGurk posted an Instagram update and in the comments section of the post, his teammates, including Fanning, made fun of the non-English speakers. The comments reek of casual racism. Jake deleted the post following a reprimand from Cricket Australia. Here is the screenshot of the comments:

pic.twitter.com/8wrTrniRsZ

— Bengaluru_Bull (@bh_bct_128) January 29, 2020

Mocking the non-english speakers, Liam Scott wrote, “Sir, give me WhatsApp number I want to be friend.” Tanveer Sangha, the leg spinners in the team, wrote, “You hit ball very hard sir.” Cricket Australia’s head of integrity and security, Sean Caroll, expressed his disappointment  in a statement sent to The Sydney Morning Herald and _The Age. “_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,” the statement read. Caroll also admitted that some of the language was ridiculing non-native English language speakers. Some of that language could be interpreted as ridiculing non-native English language speakers. He added, “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. The players have apologised for the language and have taken down the posts. 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.” Not to forget, in complete contrast, two days ago during the second quarter-finals, two New Zealand players displayed great sportsman spirit, by lifting injured West Indies’ Kirk McKenzie on their shoulders and dropping him till the ropes so that he did not have to walk.