T Chesterfield: Pat Symcox fined (28 Mar 1998)

28 March 1998

Pat Symcox fined

Trevor Chesterfield

Centurion (South Africa) - Test all-rounder Pat Symcox, dropped after scoring a century against Pakistan in the first Test of the three match series at the Wanderers last month has been fined R500 (about $US120) for refusing to sign an autograph.

But the tall, long-serving off-spinner has been cleared of "racial undertones" by the United Cricket Board of South Africa's disciplinary committe (Friday March 27) for actions in the second Test of the series against the tourists at Kingsmead in Durban a month ago.

Ronnie Pillay, convener of the committee, said in a report released by the UCB, Symcox faced a complaint of bringing the game into disrepute "in that he used abusive language at a spectator".

While the charge of the use of foul language was proven, the investigation into racial undertones were dismised.

Media reports in Durban went out of their way to suggest that Symcox was racial in his comments, but it appears the committe, which investigated the case, found "no racial connotations during the inccident".

The R500 fine will be paid into the UCB's development fund.

Source :: Trevor Chesterfield, Pretoria News (tche@ptn.independent.co.za)