Loots Bosman: ‘When you are competing with white players and you are black, you have no chance’
Former South Africa opener puts team’s inability to win World Cups down to poor culture
Bosman detailed instances of foul language and private conversations which he felt belittled him. “The environment was bad. Most of the time, the guys don’t greet you. They will just look at you. You could see they don’t care that you are greeting. They literally look the other way. They made you feel as though you don’t belong there.
“Most of the time, we [players of colour] were carrying drinks. You could see when you go and take something, for instance if someone is batting and someone needs gloves, you have to rush to the dressing room and grab someone’s gloves, and you walk in while they are talking and when you hear things they are talking about. It was sad.
“There was an occasion where I was 12th man and you literally can’t look away. There was a time when I didn’t see someone wanted something. These guys would shout and say, “f****** wake up, stop sleeping.” That language was a normal thing. The management could hear that too.”
Asked by the ombudsman Advocate Dumisa Ntsebeza whether instances such as that made him lose his confidence, Bosman said, “it breaks you. Inside. You cry inside. You put on a brave face but inside you are so broken.”
Like Telemachus, Bosman did not mention the names of the clique but hinted that they were specialists in the same discipline as him – batting. “There has always been this thing that there are no black batters. There are black batters but they are not being used. I was there,” he said. “When you are competing with white players and you are black, you have no chance. When you are black, you are going to struggle.”
Bosman concluded by saying he spoke for many former players of colour, some of whom have not been able to express themselves for fear of compromising their career possibilities. He is currently not involved in cricket in South Africa, after last coaching in the Northern Cape, but is trying to find a way in. “I don’t just speak for myself. I spoke for the retired black players. We are all in this. There are a lot of current players who are scared to say something. We are all suppressed and neglected. We lost a lot and we are hurting inside.”
Firdose Moonda is ESPNcricinfo’s South Africa correspondent
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