The days of racism are a thing of the past

Though I don't see the current controversy involving referee Mike Denness and the Indian and South African teams in racial terms, in the past there used to be clear divisions among ICC officials on racist lines. Whether cricket is still a white man's game - I think it is more about perception than reality, a perception which persists in coloured cricketing nations.In the past, yes, many decisions used to be dictated by racial considerations. Till the '70s, England and Australia would have veto powers over ICC decisions. They would always have their way. They also enjoyed better privileges on tour, like more money. So to that extent, you can say that race divisions used to influence decisions. There were occasions when the racial divide in the cricketing world was very obvious. One incident in 1993 stands out in my mind. As a representative of the Indo-Pakistan organising panel, I went to England to attend the ICC meeting to decide the venue of the next World Cup. The white members insisted that the Cup should go to England, while non-whites insisted that it should go to the Indian sub-continent. The obnoxious behaviour of certain white players and umpires reinforced this perception. Mike Gatting had the temerity to have an eye-to-eye confrontation with an umpire. Rather than being reprimanded, he was awarded by his board. This sort of action smacks of racism. But today racism is more in perception than in reality. In fact, there is little overt racism these day. The days of racism in the game are over.