Johannesburg: A ground announcer stood down for allegedly pronouncing England bowler Monty Panesar`s name with an Indian accent has denied doing so, and said he would be seeking clarification from Cricket Australia, according to reports.
According to Sport24, Cricket Australia said on Saturday that it deemed the conduct of the PA announcer at the Alice Springs ground as inappropriate and stood him down at lunch on the final day of the England v Chairman`s XI tour match.
However, the announcer David Nixon, an ABC producer based in the Northern Territory, on Monday denied putting on an accent for England-born Panesar, who is of Indian descent, the report said.
Nixon said he had been spoken to by a Cricket Australia official during the two-day tour match for his irreverence, including after once saying players doing pre-match stretching were practising their interpretive dance moves, the report added.
He said when he returned to his post after the lunch break on the second and final day, he was met by a Cricket Australia representative who politely told him he was relieved of the duties, which he had undertaken as a volunteer, the report mentioned.
Nixon also said that there were few worse things than to be branded a racist.
