Young Australian cricket stars are accused of racism after mocking Indian fans in Instagram comments – sparking a relentless backlash
- Australia’s under-19 cricket team is facing criticism for casual racism
- The team has been slammed for mocking the Indian fans and their accent
- Since the post went viral Indian fans have been trolling the players’ social media
Young Australian cricketers have been accused of casual racism after mocking Indian fans on social media.
Ahead of the Australian under-19 team’s game against India at the World Cup in Potchefstroom, South Africa on Wednesday, one of the team’s players, 17-year-old Jake Fraser-McGurk, shared a post to Instagram with the caption ‘quarterfinals here we come’.
Fraser-McGurk’s teammates then posted comments on the post using broken English, mocking Indian cricket fans.
Comments were deleted and then disabled on the original post by Australian under-19 cricketer Jake Fraser-McGurk (pictured)
Deleted comments on an Instagram post (pictured) appear to mock the language and accent of Indian cricket fans
Batsman Ollie Davies (left) wrote: ‘Sir great player, big fan and will play for India one day’ while Lachlan Hearne (right) also posted a sarcastic comment
Batsman Ollie Davies wrote: ‘Sir great player, big fan and will play for India one day’.
All-rounder Liam Scott also wrote a sarcastic comment on the post.
‘Sir, give me whatsapp number I want to be friend,’ Scott wrote.
The players have since been trolled online by angry Indian fans upset at being mocked.
Batsman Lachlan Hearne compared Fraser-McGurk to a ‘young Steve Smith’, while teammate Sam Fanning asked ‘how you bat so good young man’.
Comments have since been deleted and deactivated on the original post.
The players were targeted with a barrage of comments from Indian cricket fans, forcing Cricket Australia to order the players to change their Instagram privacy settings.
The team’s behaviour on the field also drew criticism, particularly one physical confrontation between Australia opener Sam Fanning and Indian bowler Akash Singh.
Fanning bumped shoulders with Singh when he was batting after the opponent’s attempts to remove him for obstructing the field.
Meanwhile, Fraser-McGurk had to leave South Africa early after being attacked by a monkey.
He was scratched on the face while on a team outing to a nature reserve near Kimberley on Thursday.
Indian supporters flooded the Aussie Cricketers with their own mocking comments (pictured) after the original racist posts by Under 19s players
A flood of Instagram comments from Indian supporters forced the Under 19s Aussie cricket team to change their privacy settings on social media
The team’s behaviour on the field also drew criticism, particularly one physical confrontation between Australia opener Sam Fanning (right) and Indian bowler Akash Singh (left)
Fraser-McGurk said he was disappointed to leave while the tournament was ongoing but admitted it was his own fault.
‘I guess it serves me right for getting too close to the animal enclosure,’ he said.
‘That’s a lesson learnt. I look forward to completing the treatment and getting back on the field as soon as possible.’
Daily Mail Australia has contacted Cricket Australia for comment.