A 28-year-old man who admitted racially abusing England’s Jofra Archer in November has been banned from attending international and domestic games in New Zealand for two years.
Archer was subjected to the abuse as he walked back to the pavilion during the final day of the first Test at the Bay Oval. Shortly after the tourists were routed by an innings in Mount Maunganui he tweeted saying he found it “a bit disturbing” to hear racial taunts.
New Zealand Cricket, who apologised to Archer after the incident, announced there had been a development on Monday. It said: “Police have spoken to a 28-year-old Auckland man who subsequently admitted responsibility for the abuse. He was issued with a verbal warning for using insulting language.
“NZC have since contacted the man and have also written to him, advising of his ban from all international and domestic fixtures in New Zealand until 2022.”
NRC’s Anthony Crummy said it would not be disclosing the identity of the offender, nor information which might lead to his identification. However, he said if the man breached the conditions of his ban and attended a fixture he would be removed from the venue and could become subject to further police action.
“We’d again like to extend our apologies to Jofra and the England team management for such an unsavoury incident and reiterate once more that this type of behaviour is completely unacceptable,” he said.
Crummy said NZC would continue to treat offensive language and behaviour seriously, with anti-racist messages posted on signs around the grounds, on the big screen and delivered by ground-announcers.
Spectators at all venues will be encouraged to use NZC’s text alert system to notify ground security of any anti-social behaviour, including racist taunts and abuse.