Former Proteas wicketkeeper Thami Tsolekile, serving a 12-year ban from the game for his role in South Africa’s 2015 match-fixing scandal, wants current Director of Cricket (DoC) and former Proteas captain Graeme Smith to apologise to him.
On Thursday night, Tsolekile was on Robert Marawa’s Marawa Sport Worldwide for the third time in eight days where he continued to highlight what he considered to be a series of injustices experienced during his playing days and involvement in the national set-up.
On the show on Tuesday night, Tsolekile, 39, aimed a tirade of attacks and questions at Smith.
Tsolekile said he has been inspired and “left in tears” by the story of Makhaya Ntini, who last month shared his experiences of loneliness during his days in the Proteas set-up. He accused Smith of leaving him out of social activities on tour and facilitating a culture of division in the national team.
On his list of grievances, he mentioned what he experienced in England in 2010 when, Mark Boucher’s career-ending injury and with Smith as captain, he was initially included as a late addition in the squad and then left out of the starting XI for the entirety of the three Test series, which South Africa lost 2-0.
In his statement, Smith acknowledged how difficult it must have been for Tsolekile to be sidelined while Boucher, considered one of the best wicketkeeper/batsmen in the history of the game, occupied his Proteas place.
“Unfortunately, Thami was a wicketkeeper, which meant he was only ever fighting for one position,” said Smith.
