Percy Sonn defends Ontong's selection

South African cricket head Percy Sonn defended on Thursday his decision to force the national selectors to include black all-rounder Justin Ontong in their team for the third Test against Australia.

As the debate over the United Cricket Board president's decision reached Australian government level, Sonn said South African cricket had a moral responsibility to encourage blacks to play the game.

"South African cricket is not isolated from South African society and life," Sonn told a local radio station. "South African society has been a broken society and we need to make a contribution towards a better society."

Sonn found an ally in Australian Prime Minister John Howard.

In Sydney to watch the second day of the third Test, Howard told reporters he supported South African initiatives to encourage multi-racial representation.

"I think the aim of having a team that is reflective of a society is a very laudable aim," Howard said. "I'm not going to start commenting either way on the basis on which overseas teams that compete against Australia are selected.

"But I would clearly come down on the side of wanting to see cricket spread throughout the entire population of South Africa, and not something that is just limited to the white population and narrower proportions of the non-white population."

Howard's view was not shared by leading commentators. Ontong, 21, has never played Test cricket before and most commentators said it was unfair to throw him into such a big match against the world's top side.

"South African cricket needs some coloured cricket heroes or it will become a white irrelevance. But it is an awful lot to put on the plate of a 21-year-old in his first match," Peter Roebuck wrote in the Sydney Morning Herald.

"The idea of pushing coloured and black players along applies better in youth and first class cricket than it does in the Test arena where tens of thousands watch and history judges."

Mike Coward in the Australian adopted a similar approach.

"Such a decision may have been justifiable against one of the game's minnows, but to fast-track Ontong against Australia seems foolhardy in the extreme and it is hoped such promotion does not adversely affect his development as a man and a cricketer, he wrote."

COLOUR REPRESENTATION

South African selectors are obliged to choose a team on merit but including at least one player of colour. Provincial teams have to include at least three.

Opening batsman Herschelle Gibbs was the only coloured player originally chosen for the final Test but Sonn intervened to force the selectors to play Ontong instead of the selectors preferred choice Jacques Rudolph.

The selectors had wanted Rudolph to bat at three with Boeta Dippenaar dropping to number six but Sonn argued that Ontong should have been chosen first because he was a specialist number six batsmen.

Sonn got his way when Dippenaar was retained at three and Ontong called in to bat at six.

"I wasn't concerned about Jacques Rudolph. I was concerned about this one chap of colour who wasn't given his opportunity," Sonn said. "Our policy says if the opportunity is there, the young chap (Ontong) must be given his opportunity."

Also read:
UCB ordered selectors to pick Ontong

Mail Cricket Editor