The KwaZulu-Natal Cricket Union has criticised a recent report about a racial incident that occurred between Robbie Frylinck and Aya Myoli, while on tour back in 2016.
On Saturday Sport24 ran an in-depth account of Myoli’s experience of being subject to racial abuse at the hands of Frylinck, which led to a bust-up between the two as they were travelling on a bus after playing a three-day match against Boland in Paarl.
Myoli stated that Frylinck was upset about the quota policy that omitted him from the Dolphins first team due to then head coach Lance Klusener bringing in two overseas players, taking up the ‘white’ positions in the team.
It led to a series of discriminative chirps from Frylinck towards Myoli, while they were playing for KZN, and it accumulated to the incident on the bus. That resulted in Myoli being refused entry to a flight from Cape Town to Durban after Frylinck complained to the police at the airport that Myoli was threatening him.
As expected, the article made shockwaves on social media but it didn’t take long before the KZN Cricket Union responded, stating that the incident was immediately handled with caution.
‘The incident was immediately addressed by then CEO Pete de Wet and was resolved to the satisfaction of all the parties concerned,’ said Faeez Jaffer, who was president of the KwaZulu-Natal Cricket Union at the time.
‘He stressed that the current coverage of the incident was disappointing as it fails to provide the full facts of the matter. “Let’s be clear, both parties were at fault here,”’ said Jaffer.
‘The disciplinary process was very thorough and fair, and at the end of it, both players shook hands and agreed to move on amicably.
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‘As president of the union and as someone who has been involved with most of these players from junior age-group level, I would never have tolerated a climate of racial tension in the team.
‘It is always a charged environment when professional cricketers are playing. From the competition for places in the team to the stresses of playing matches, especially away from home, differences can occur. What is important is how it is handled.
‘In this case it was critical to get to the bottom of it and ensure that the right resolution was found, for the team and for both individuals. In no way whatsoever was it swept under the carpet,’ he added.
