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Ponting wants action taken after alleged racist abuse

Australian captain Ricky Ponting said yesterday the International Cricket Council (ICC) should take action over the alleged racial abuse of teammate Andrew Symonds by Indian fans.

Cricket Australia said on Friday that Symonds complained about noises made by some sections of the crowd as he fielded near the boundary during the game against India in Vadodara on Thursday.

However, the team refrained from lodging a formal complaint, leaving the local authorities to deal with the matter.

Ponting said the game's governing body, which adopted a stringent, new anti-racism code last November, should take the lead.

"I know the match referee knows about it. If ICC gets it in his report, they will have a chance to do something about it," Ponting told reporters.

"I think for us to be saying anything about it, we need for the ICC to be doing something about it first," he said.

"Racism is unacceptable anywhere in the world. You don't expect it to happen when you step out on the field. We did not deserve it and we don't expect it to happen again," Ponting said.

ICC spokesman James Fitzgerald said match referee Chris Broad's match report had been discussed at length and the Indian board may be asked for an explanation.

BCCI Secretary Niranjan Shah said local authorities denied any racial taunts were directed at Symonds.
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