New Zealand Cricket have lodged a complaint with the police over the racial abuse directed at Jofra Archer from the crowd at the Bay Oval during the first Test.
The board said their investigations had failed to conclusively identify the spectator responsible, but had given them enough with which to go to the police.
They hoped that should the offender repeat the abuse on another occasion, their information would help the authorities take action.
“Information gathered from an inquiry which included studying CCTV footage, listening to audio, interviewing bystanders and obtaining material on social media has been incorporated in the complaint,” a statement from the board said.
We are shocked and disappointed to hear of the verbal abuse @JofraArcher received after the Test today. @englandcricket might be our rivals but they’re also our friends and racist abuse is never okay!
— BLACKCAPS (@BLACKCAPS) November 25, 2019
“What happened to Jofra was reprehensible and has led to a general upscaling of security around the area of racial abuse at all our international venues,” NZC chief executive David White said. “Should the person responsible ever reoffend, we believe we have enough information to link him to the Bay Oval incident.”
White confirmed that the spectator would be banned from all international venues if a confirmed identification is forthcoming.
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The incident had occurred on the last day of play in the first Test between New Zealand and England at Mount Maunganui, which the home team won. NZC and captain Kane Williamson have apologised to Archer over the incident.
Archer, on his part, wrote in the Daily Mail before the second Test, “I’ve left what happened at the ground and I’ve moved on. I should also say it was just one person who was shouting stuff. But I found the incident a real shame.”
