The Hawke's Bay Cricket Association has called an emergency meeting tonight after a school cricket match was abandoned in Hastings last Thursday due to an alleged racial abuse incident.
The match, between a Napier Tech Year 11 to 13 side and a visiting Western ASA Blue XI — made up of players of Indian, Sri Lankan and Pakistani heritage — was abandoned just short of 20 overs into the first innings, after an umpire ruled a Napier player had racially abused an opposition batter.
In a statement, New Zealand Cricket confirmed they had received a "serious complaint" regarding the incident that "involves racial vilification and homophobic and sexist slurs".
New Zealand Cricket said they would await the details from the meeting before commenting further.
Despite the complaint, Hawke's Bay Cricket Association CEO Craig Findlay told Hawke's Bay Today the match ended because of a misunderstanding.
"HB Cricket are aware of what happened and are dealing with it accordingly and at this stage aren't in a position to comment,'' Findlay said.
The Western Districts School Children's Cricket Association told Hawke's Bay Today it was in the process of dealing with the incident with the Auckland Cricket Association.
WDSCA president Lynn Fuller said they could not comment further as they were awaiting a report from the coach of the Auckland Blue XI.
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