Yorkshire and Surrey are awaiting the response of the ECB after a Surrey player reported that he had been racially abused by a spectator on the first day of the County Championship match against Yorkshire in Scarborough.
The player in question reported the incident to the umpires, Peter Hartley and Paul Pollard, who informed the cricket liaison officer, Wayne Noon. Yorkshire have advised they will make no comment on the alleged incident until they hear officially from the ECB about the matter.
Surrey’s director of Cricket Alec Stewart said: “We’re fully aware of this unsavoury incident and have every confidence that the ECB and Yorkshire will deal with it in the appropriate manner.”
It is not thought that the spectator involved was approached by stewards or by members of the Scarborough or Yorkshire club.
Yorkshire will point out that the overall mood of the crowd was not hostile – quite the opposite. On the first day at North Marine Road spectators in the packed stand at the Peasholm Park End gave the Surrey offspinner Amar Virdi a huge round of applause at the end of the over in which he dismissed both Cheteshwar Pujara and Harry Brook.
Scarborough attracts one of the biggest and most vociferous Championship crowds in the country and the intimate nature of the ground, which has often been described as a natural amphitheatre, means that any cries or barracking from the crowd can often be clearly heard.
Source: ESPN Crickinfo