Vermeulen in race storm: career in jeopardy

Conant wrote:He will never play for Zim again or even league cricket for that matter. Goes without saying.

jaybro wrote:Another twist in the sad Mark Vermeulan story ......

He is clearly deranged.

bavuma_rabada wrote:
I know very well that in any professional situation MV would not have been picked or employed anywhere else otherwise. He is sane.

jaybro wrote:

bavuma_rabada wrote:
I know very well that in any professional situation MV would not have been picked or employed anywhere else otherwise. He is sane.

This is ZC not the national bank of Australia or even the Australian cricket team, if a player or employee in Australia tried to burn down a building belonging to the establishment there is a snow balls chance in hell they would be taken back even if they were cleared of mental illness !!!!!

While the internet has improved access to information, the downside is that it offers those with extremist views a largely unrestrained place to vent their hate. On websites and social media, people rail anonymously against blacks.

Unfortunately it is difficult to tell someone who is ranting and raging on the Internet from one who will pick up a gun the next day and go and kill someone because they are black.

Is it not surprising that Vermeulen can, in this day and age, call black cricketers “apes” even expressing regret at the “education” they supposedly got from whites? Suggesting that black cricketers would have been a lot happier in a mud hut, eating grounded maize, is the craziest thing that one can say to a fellow athlete.

Our cricket had made so much progress in normalising race relations between whites and blacks, but with Vermeulen’s rant, Zimbabwe Cricket (ZC) finds itself many steps back.

We believe ZC shouldn’t be dealing with race issues in the sport, due to nasty experiences in the past.

Indeed, extreme bigotry — once expressed openly at events like Ku Klux Klan rallies in the United States, apartheid in South Africa and the Unilateral Declaration of Independence in Zimbabwe — can often go unseen.

It is even dangerous and devious in that it is harder to call it out, and it is harder to acknowledge.

Even those who subscribe to Vermeulen’s radical views may not know when someone is likely to go from online ranting to real-life violence.

Is it not true then that sometimes that hatred goes beyond angry text on a screen, occasionally with tragic consequences?

Sport is a unifier, yet it seems there are a few among us who are still stuck in the past, who see colour rather than a fellow teammate.

Although Vermeulen has a history of disorderliness, his latest gaffe is probably the most disgusting and disappointing of them all.

How he could spew so much anger and hatred against black cricketers with such reckless abandon is perplexing. To think that Vermeulen expects forgiveness for such a racist rant and hopes to still interact with fellow athletes, defeats reason.

What is most disappointing is that having been out of international cricket for a while, it was a black coach, Stephen Mangongo, and a black convenor of selectors, Givemore Makoni, who gave him the opportunity to resurrect his international career.

He played against South Africa in a Test match, but was left out of the tour of Bangladesh because he struggled against spin bowling, which they were anticipating on the sub-continent.

It could have been easy for the selectors to ignore Vermeulen because of his reported unstableness, but they embraced him. This goes to show that he did not deserve that recall in the first place.

Vermeulen’s actions must be condemned together with like-minded individuals across the country and elsewhere. No doubt, whites are no better than blacks and it is important for ZC to conclusively deal with this matter. Such players should be banned from anywhere near sporting activities.

Cricket players that have vowed to boycott the game if he were to be included in any team are justified and we urge authorities to resolve this matter urgently and bring finality to it.

Clearly, Vermeulen does not need another chance in the sport. Sportspersons are role models. There are many children aspiring to play international cricket.

Yet, it is people like Vermeulen who really spoil the future of cricket in this country. Surely, an apology will not be enough to erase what he thinks about black people and whatever injustice he was subjected to does not justify this.

This should be a lesson to Zimbabwe to deal with race relations across the board.

In response to the racial comments made by myself Mark Vermeulen in July this year, I woke up at 4am to find a post on Facebook about Prosper (Utseya) claiming he wasn’t picked for any of the world Cup matches in February/March of this year.

I then read all the posts from people and added my five-cent comment hastily without thinking of the repercussions.

I then returned to Zimbabwe on September 7 2015 in the hope to play cricket again for a franchise and maybe Zimbabwe again if I scored enough runs.

I apologised to Prosper personally about the issue and he accepted my apology.

I know my comments were over the top and I apologise to all that I have offended. But as a cricketer, it’s how our minds work.

I will give you an example in 2004 when I walked out to bat at Sydney Cricket Ground in the second innings of the second test match vs Australia, I was confronted by four of the Australian players who were all swearing at me and calling me worse things than I mentioned in my statement against Prosper.

I then started playing some shots racing into my 40s, the Aussie fielders that were sledging me became quiet.

So this is how cricketers’ minds work and yes, I know my comments were over the top, but it was not meant in a menacing way.

It was just a chirp that often happens out on the field of play and as men, you take the blow on the chin and get on with the game.

I end by apologising again to all who I have offended, but remember, this is just a game where the opposition will try anything to make you lose your concentration so as to take your wicket.

Yours Sincerely

Mark Vermeulen