Race row rears ugly head in SA cricket

DURBAN, October 11: The South African cricket team touring Pakistan has become embroiled in a race row after the chairman of the selectors apparently claimed that only half the team for the One-day series has been chosen on merit.
The chairman of the South African Selection Committee, Joubert Strydom, is reported to have made the remark after the president of Cricket SA, Norman Arendse, had rejected the original 14-man squad because it was not of the "right mix".
According to a report from Lahore in Daily News "players of colour" had asked Cricket SA to look into the matter.
Nine players of the 14-man squad are white and the rest are players of colour. They are Herschelle Gibbs, Makhaya Ntini, Charl Langeveldt, and newcomers Jean-Paul Duminy and Vernon Philander.
The current players involved in the second Test match in Lahore were upset, according to the newspaper report.
"The players are livid. How could the convenor, who has been in the job just for a few weeks, make such a statement and what gives him the right to make such a statement," one player was quoted as saying.
"As players, we need the CSA to stand and be counted - it's now gone too far. It's time for action."
"The black players believe their credibility is being undermined, for whenever they are selected - even on merit - they are branded as 'quota' players, or part of CSA's 'target' policy," the report says.
Cricket SA has not yet commented on the issue. South African will play five ODIs against Pakistan.