'We don't pick player on basis of colour', says SA chief selector

Jaipur, Nov 1 (UNI) Convener of the Protea selection committee Haroon Lorgat today rubbished reports that South Africa will continue with the ''quota system'' and insisted that performance, and not the ''colour of skin'', is the the sole criterion when it comes to picking the players.

''In the current squad, not a single player -- black or white -- is there who doesn't deserve to be here,'' Lorgat said reacting to media reports that quoted him as saying that South Africa would ''continue with the quotas for blacks.'' ''We don't pick players on the basis of their skin colour. To get into the team, one has to be worthy of selection,'' he said.

In the reports published today, Lorgat was also quoted as saying that the coloured people had ''suffered for long at the hands of the whites'' and claimed that he himself was a ''victim'' of the racial bias and eventually could not play international cricket.

''You must understand that it is a sensitive issue back home. We have to transform not just South African cricket but the society as a whole. In order to do that we have to give everyone oppotunities,'' he said addressing reporters here.

''Having said that, their is nothing called quota in South African cricket. Quota is something which is obligatory. We have targets, instead. And these targets are something which we are aspiring for,'' he said.

He informed that Cricket South Africa (CSA) had set a target of seven coloured players in the squad by World Cup 2007.

''If we fail to achieve our targets we have to explain to the board and if we achieve them we'll be on the moon,'' Lorgat added.

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