New Zealand vs England, 1st Test: Kane Williamson apologizes to Jofra Archer after fan racially abuses England bowler
New Zealand captain Kane Williamson will seek out Jofra Archer for a personal apology having said sorry on behalf of his country after the England bowler was racially abused by a fan.
An investigation was launched by New Zealand Cricket (NZC) after Archer said he was targeted during the first Test at Bay Oval.
The 24-year-old made 30 in England's second innings as Joe Root's team tried to salvage a draw, only for the Black Caps to claim an innings-and-65-run win in the final session of the last day.
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After the match, Archer wrote on Twitter: "A bit disturbing hearing racial insults today whilst battling to help save my team, the crowd was been amazing this week except for that one guy."
NZC apologised to Archer and vowed to identify the spectator, and Williamson said he intends to speak with the bowler himself too.
"I will try, over the next few days if I can see him, definitely," he told stuff.co.nz.
"It's certainly against everything that we as Kiwis are about, and I certainly hope that nothing like that ever happens again.
"I can only apologise on behalf of Kiwis to Jofra, not only from our team and how we look to conduct ourselves, but what we expect of Kiwis in general."
Williamson went on to describe the abuse as "horrific".
Asked if he was shocked, he added: "Absolutely, 100 per cent.
"We were out there too and didn't hear anything… obviously we were focusing on other things.
"It's a horrific thing. In a country, and a setting where it is very much multi-cultural, it's something we need to put to bed quickly and hope nothing like that ever happens again. It certainly won't if there's any influence we can have on it."
The second Test begins in Hamilton on Thursday and England's director of cricket Ashley Giles promised Archer the full support of his team.
"The tweet that went out [from Archer] was obviously emotional. It hurts," Giles told ESPN.
"We fully support Jof - there is no place for racism in the game and Jof is part of our team. Whatever the abuse, we're right behind him.
"Our team will rally round him but it's a serious incident. He's a young man making his way in the game and we don't need this sort of thing. I'm hopeful they [NZC] will find out who did it. They're working very hard to find the culprit."