Suburban cricket competition under fire after derogatory tweet published by league’s account

A suburban cricket association in Melbourne’s west is under fire after a derogatory tweet was published by the league’s official account. It was deleted after Cricket Victoria stepped in.

Local cricket competition under fire.

A leading suburban cricket association is under fire over a social media post that referred to a group of players as “sub continentals”.

The official account of the Victorian Turf Cricket Association, whose clubs are based in the north and west of Melbourne, tweeted on Sunday that it was “disappointed to see a game of cricket being played today by a group of sub continentals who are out there with no social distancing, not a mask to be seen and definitely no sanitising”.

“We as Assoc (sic) & clubs are asked to jump through hoops but … have bat & ball comps – nothing,” it said.

The tweet was made at 10.49am and drew a quick response.

It was deleted soon after.

The Victorian Turf Cricket Association is under fire.

VTCA president Steve McNamara took responsibility for the tweet and said it was only meant to point out the lack of health and safety protocols.

“It certainly wasn’t meant and shouldn’t be construed as a racist comment,” he said.

“It was only meant to point out the unstructured competitions that facilitate games in the area that have no COVID-Safe protocols and regulations.

“There was a concern that the fine work that so many have put in could be unwound by people without being party to the same standards that competitions and our clubs are held.

“In absolutely no way was it meant with racist connotations and shouldn't be construed that way.

“If any one took offence or interpreted that way, I offer our sincerest apologies.”

Leader understands Cricket Victoria was alerted to the post and contacted the VTCA to ask it be deleted.

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St Bernard’s batsman and former VTCA representative Chris Spinella replied to the tweet saying “This is a horrible post”.

Hampton cricketer Anthony Quon said the VTCA was “still living in the 1950s” and tagged Cricket Victoria in his reply, asking if it was happy with this “sort of professionalism”.

Another Hampton player, Dallas Voss, called the posting a disgrace and said people who had challenged the tweet had been blocked.

“Get with the times you morons, glad we don’t play in your comp anymore!” Voss, who scored a century on Saturday, said.

Cricket Victoria confirmed it was investigating the matter.

“We are aware of an offensive social media post on Sunday that was subsequently deleted,’’ a spokesman said this afternoon.

“Cricket is and remains a sport for all and has a proud history of multicultural inclusion which enriches our game.”