Cricket: South Africa gear up for India challenge – Gulf Digital News

Cricket: South Africa gear up for India challenge – Gulf Digital News

Test captain Dean Elgar says he will not let the allegations of racist conduct that have come to light at Cricket South Africa in recent months become an excuse for failure as his side prepare to host India in a three-match series from Sunday.

Director of cricket Graeme Smith, who denies the claims, and national team coach Mark Boucher were among a number of CSA employees implicated in “tentative findings” made by the Social Justice and Nation Building Ombudsman into alleged past discrimination.

CSA confirmed yesterday they would investigate the conduct of everyone implicated in the report, though only once the series with India has concluded.

“What happens off the field for me is irrelevant now,” Elgar told reporters yesterday. “As a playing unit we have been through such crappy times (amid the Covid-19 pandemic) that we have formulated such a good bond within our group.

“We must be mindful that if things are bad off the field, we can’t use that as a cop-out for us. We are a professional team and professional players.”

Elgar appeared to give his backing to Boucher after former test spinner Paul Adams said he had been called a “brown s--t” in a South Africa team song during