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Nathan Lyon wants cricketers around the world to be able to work without being abused by members of the crowd, calling for “disgusting” barbs to stop.
Cricket Australia is continuing to probe India’s complaint regarding alleged racial abuse, which was levelled after day three of the SCG Test.
Mohammed Siraj stopped play on day four of the contest, furious about further verbals that were being directed at him from the outer.
Several witnesses in the crowd have claimed Siraj was not racially abused in the moments leading up to Sunday’s stoppage.
Lyon, who has copped personal abuse from fans on several tours, feels Siraj’s line-in-the-sand moment could potentially become a precedent for other players to speak up during games.
“It may well do,” the offspinner told reporters ahead of his 100th Test.
“It’s totally up to the player and how they’ve been affected.
“I just really hope that in a whole world society that we get over it … players can go to work and not be worried about being abused, racially abused or whatever it may be.
“People think they’re being funny but it can affect people in different ways … it’s quite disgusting.”
Lyon echoed the thoughts of Cricket Australia chief executive Nick Hockley in urging the nation’s fans to be respectful of both teams.
“We’ve got a lot of security around the grounds these days,” he said.
“So hopefully they can do their job and if there’s anybody doing that (abusing players), they can be removed. Because there’s absolutely no place for it.”
David Warner has apologised to Siraj and the visiting team in a post on social media.
“Racism and abuse is not in any way acceptable or tolerated anywhere at any time, and I would expect better from our home crowd,” Warner wrote.
© AAP
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