Paul Adams’ disturbing testimony to alleged racism in SA cricket: ‘I was called brown s***’

• Former Proteas spinner Paul Adams says ex-Proteas coach Ray Jennings allegedly doused a black player in a white substance prior to a county pre-season game.
• Adams, who testified at the CSA’s social justice and nation-building hearings on Thursday, also spoke of being referred to as “brown shit” during his time as Protea.
• Adams also claimed that former Proteas pacer Johann Louw posted a derogatory comment in a WhatsApp group.

During an emotionally charged session on Thursday, former Proteas spinner Paul Adams Cricket told South Africa’s Social Justice and Nation-building (SJN) hearings about three incidents of alleged racism he had witnessed in South African cricket.

Testifying under oath at the transformation hearings, chaired by attorney Dumisa Ntsebeza, he claimed:

• Teammates, including current Proteas head coach Mark Boucher, called him “brown shit” when they celebrated victories;
• Former Proteas Coach Ray Jennings poured sunscreen on a young Mpho Sekhoto during a pre-season game between Western Province and Easterns in Benoni in 2002;
• Former Proteas and Cape Cobras pacer Johann Louw posted a derogatory remark aimed at then South African Under-19 coach Lawrence Mahatlane after the junior internationals lost a game to Zimbabwe in January 2020.

“I was called ‘brown shit’ and it was often a song after we won a competition and it was sung in fine meetings. They sang ‘Brown shit in the ring tra-la-la-la'” he claimed.

He said it didn’t occur to him at the time that the song was racist and added that his wife was the one who brought it to his attention.

“If you play for your country, you are in that victory [moment]. You have no idea. You just go with it [and] wipe it out, but it’s actually blatant racism.

“They wouldn’t call another player ‘white shit’, or anything close to that. They would always use ‘brown shit’.

“When I thought about it and my wife kept telling me, I realized it wasn’t right and you could never know what was happening in the team environment, and people think it’s okay to call people that. It should never happen. .”

Adams initially did not mention Boucher by name.

However, the name was mentioned when lawyer Fumisa Ngqele Adams asked if he addressed Boucher when calling him “brown shit”.

Adams replied: “I never spoke to him personally. Mark was one of the guys and I only really started to think about these things afterwards because I was totally absorbed in the joy of being on the team and not wanting to mess with feathers .”

“Maybe he should come and say sorry. Maybe that’s all that needs to be done.’

Sports24 sent a question by email to Proteas’ media management in Ireland, who replied with Boucher’s response to comments made about him during the hearings.

“Due to my obligations as the head coach of Proteas and the fact that I was out of the country during the SJN hearings, I have not been able to follow the testimonies given and therefore am not in a position to comment on any issues that have arisen.” said Boucher.

“At the moment I am fully focused on the Proteas and the last game of their tour of Ireland tomorrow (Saturday).

“Once I return to South Africa, I will deal with all issues that concern me properly after I have had the opportunity to get a detailed report.

“Until then, I won’t comment on it.”

Ray Jennings used white paint to paint a black player’s face

Adams claimed that wrinkle white paint was used to paint Mpho Sekhoto’s face as punishment for having dirty cricket boots.

The incident was also mentioned by Adams’ former Western Province and Proteas teammate Roger Telemachus, who was also at the game, but he didn’t go into as much detail as Adams did.

Adams and Telemachus were playing for Western Province at the time of the alleged incident.

Adams, who will coach Border in the revamped domestic system from next season, said the incident upset him.

“It was a humiliating incident where his face was painted with white paint and he felt he should reprimand him for having dirty shoes by painting his face white,” Adams testified.

“I was so upset because you can’t do that to young players. It will break their hearts and their minds.”

“He may have thought it would make him tougher and more determined, but you don’t.

“You don’t paint people’s faces white, because you have to go back in history to see what was going on.

“We asked Mpho to clean his face because he was so scared and it stuck with me,” he added.

Sports24 determined, however, that Sekhoto – a promising young player for Easterns in 2002 – was in fact slathered with sunscreen by Jennings, his coach, for being late for a pre-season game against Western Province in Benoni.

When Sports24 asked for comment on Thursday, Jennings declined to talk about the incident.

“I don’t want to get involved in that. It’s irrelevant,” he said.

Sekhoto confirmed that the incident took place, but declined to comment on the matter.

“What happened happened at the time and that was that to be honest,” Sekhoto said.

Jennings was the Easterns coach when the team won the 2002/03 SuperSport Series, beating a star-studded side of the Western Province by 273 runs at the end of that season.

He went on to coach the Proteas in 2004 and 2005, and guided the South African Under-19 squad, captained by Aiden Markram, to the 2014 Under-19 World Cup title.

Allegedly racist WhatsApp comment

Adams, who played 45 Tests and 24 ODIs, also testified that former Cape Cobras and Proteas pacer Johann Louw made a racist comment last year in a WhatsApp group with former Proteas captain and current CSA director of cricket, Graeme Smith.

He said this happened after South Africa lost by 31 runs to Zimbabwe in a quadrangle match for the 2020 Under-19 Cricket World Cup.

“On January 7, 2020 at the Under-19 World Cup (warm-up match)… SA lost to Zimbabwe and everyone posted,” said Adams.

“Suddenly a message came in from Johann Louw with the text: ‘How long are they going to keep that monkey there? (How long are they going to keep that monkey there?)

“As soon as the message came out, Smith said, to his credit, ‘This comment is extremely inappropriate and endangers everyone in this group.’

“That message referred to Lawrence Mahatlane, who was the SA Under-19 coach at the time.”

Sports24 reached out to Louw, who played three ODIs and two T20s for the Proteas in 2008 and 2009, for comment.

“If it came across that way or if he refers to something like that, it certainly wasn’t intended to come across that way,” Louw said.

“We were chatting and we were talking about coaches and I never said anything about that.

“I don’t remember any incident like that and if it was picked up like that, and I never mentioned names and if they felt it was something that pointed to the coach then I’m sorry.

“It was never my intention to say such a thing and I never would.”

Adams said he hoped his testimony, while painful for him, would also prevent a repeat.

“They would say it’s unconscious bias, but that’s why we’re here; to change those perceptions and change the way we think and see people,” Adams said.

“These things really came to my mind after my playing days. They’ve been in my head. I haven’t had a platform to broadcast them and I’ve only talked to my close friends and I share the feelings of my fellow black cricketers who have spoken here.

“We are here to build the country and we are part of that generation. I hope the incidents I spoke of are part of a way to move things forward and not a witch hunt.

“The language that was used and the incidents we saw should not happen again. We have to find a better way.”