Neither cricket, nor polite

FARIDABAD, MARCH 16: Men only, women not allowed. Hansie Cronje might as well wear that on his T-shirt the next time around. There was no ...

FARIDABAD, MARCH 16: Men only, women not allowed. Hansie Cronje might as well wear that on his T-shirt the next time around.

There was no place for women scribes, who like their male counterparts, were waiting for a comment from the winning South African skipper, who chose to hold the post-match press conference in the dressing room instead of a common area on Wednesday. The normally courteous Cronje stopped the women in their track with a curt, “No ladies allowed.”

The South African dressing room was out of bounds — though some male reporters did manage to squeeze in. It opened just once and spinner Nicky Boje, who peeped out, promised to request Cronje to “come out and speak” to the media. Boje’s entreaties clearly did not work, for even when the door opened again, there was no sign of Cronje.

In the end, it was left to some male reporters to go inside, get the required quotes and avert any controversy.

Still, what Cronje did was neither cricket. Nor nice.