Sunday Times
TELFORD VICE, Cape Town
ASHWELL Prince denies he made the comment that has put Yorkshire captain Andrew Gale in the eye of a racism hurricane following their on-field altercation in Manchester, and doubts that the incident was racial in nature.
“I don’t go out searching for trouble, but I also don’t allow people to trample all over me or any of my teammates,” Prince told Sunday Times. “My response had nothing to do with racism. I was insulted and I fired back.”
But the England Cricket Board (ECB) disagree with SA’s first black test captain. On Wednesday Gale was charged under a section of their code of conduct that deals with racism.
At issue is whether that other K-word - Kolpak - could be construed as racist.
Prince was batting for Lancashire in a championship match at Old Trafford on September 3 when Gale tried to squeeze an extra over into the last session of the day’s play.
A veteran of 271 matches and almost 19 years as a first-class cricketer and known as a tough and canny opponent, Prince was having none of that. So he used up precious seconds standing in the middle of the pitch fiddling with his thigh pad.
What happened next depends on who is believed. According to the British press, Prince said to Gale, who had apparently advanced towards the crease, “Fuck off back to cover point.”
Allegedly Gale retorted: “Well, you can fuck off back to your own country, you Kolpak fucker.”
Prince is among several foreigners who ply their trade on the county circuit under the Kolpak rules, which means that in terms of European Union legislation they are counted as English players and are therefore not subject to the regulation on the number of overseas members a team is allowed to include.
The spat earned Gale a two-match ban in terms of the suspended sentence he was under for showing dissent to an umpire’s decision earlier in the season.
Gale has since been charged under level three of the ECB’s code of conduct, which covers, “Using language or a gesture that offends, insults, humiliates, intimidates, threatens, disparages or vilifies another person on the basis of that person’s race, religion or belief, colour, descent, national or ethnic origin, age, disability, gender, sexual orientation or background.”
Prince’s version is that Gale spewed abuse as he came towards him in reaction to the South African’s time-wasting tactics, which he admits to. But he says he did not tell Gale where he should field.
“In my 270-odd matches, never have I ever heard such utter rubbish as a batsman telling a fielder to F off back to another position,” Prince said.
“I know that I have this perceived bad-boy reputation, but those who know me know that I defend myself and my teammates to the max.”
Prince did not reveal what he had said to Gale and was unsure why the incident had sparked controversy.
“The umpires heard all of our exchanges,” Prince said. “They felt his comments were inappropriate and therefore reported him to the ECB.
“I did not and I don’t think I’m even entitled to report him to ECB.”
Tellingly, Prince is not in trouble with the ECB.
Because of the fuss, Gale was dissuaded from collecting the trophy when Yorkshire won the championship a week later. The county are reportedly assembling a high-powered legal team to defend their man at his hearing, which could happen this week.
The Prince-Gale controversy chimes with growing right wing nationalism in England and 1.6-million Scots having voted on Thursday against their country remaining part of the United Kingdom.
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