Cricket South Africa holds first cricket for social justice meeting
Jul 28, 2020
London [UK], July 28 : In order to address the issues of discrimination, Cricket South Africa (CSA) on Sunday arranged its first cricket for social justice and nation-building (SJN) meeting with more than 30 former cricketers and coaches of colour.
The apex body of cricket in South Africa held the meeting to affirm its support towards the Black Lives Matter (BLM) movement, and its relevance in South Africa.
According to ESPNcricinfo, the inaugural session was chaired by outgoing CSA President Chris Nenzani and the transformation committee head Eugenia Kula-Ameyaw.
Director of cricket Graeme Smith and CEO Jacques Faul didn't attend the meeting as the board wanted to allow the former players the freedom to talk.
"They felt that many 'talk shops' have taken place in the past and that this time urgent action and implementation was needed to address their concerns," ESPNcricinfo quoted a representative from the group as saying.
"It was a board engagement, and we decided to host it as such. We could not throw our colleague (Smith) under the bus. We wanted the players to be free to talk," said Kula-Ameyaw.
Faul said that he along with Smith wanted to attend the meeting but realise that they may need to wait in order to engage with former players of colour on what is a sensitive issue.
"We were invited but then the board explained to us that it would be better if we don't attend the first meeting so we allow the opportunity for players to speak freely," ESPNcricinfo quoted Faul as saying.
Earlier, 31 former and current Proteas cricketers had signed a letter showcasing their support towards the Black Lives Matter campaign and pacer Lungi Ngidi.
