''unbelievable amount of abuse'' awaits Panesar in Oz, fears Smith

London, Nov 10 (UNI) A been-there-seen-that Graeme Smith fears sensational British spinner Monty Panesar would have to cop ''unbelievable amount of abuse'', some of racist nature, during the Ashes series in Australia.

Recalling his own experience when some of his teammates were subjected to racial taunts by a section of the hostile crowd, the South African captain felt Panesar, a bearded Sikh who wears a black patka, would be an obvious target.

''I was chatting to some of our team just the other day and we all shivered at the prospect of what he could be in for. He is going to cop an unbelievable amount of abuse. I sincerely hope for everyone's sake, but especially his, that it isn't of a racist nature, but our own experience obviously leaves us with doubts,'' Smith told the Guardian.

''Hopefully Monty can become a bit of a folk hero. I can see how that might happen. But if he is selected instead of (Ashley) Giles at the beginning of the tour then the noise levels when he comes on to bowl, or even just fields the ball at mid-on, will be close to unbearable. I dread to think of him fielding on the boundary,'' he added.

He also felt that England should report immediately in case of such abuse, like his team did.

''It was definitely the right move as far as we are concerned.

Anyone can see in sport around the world that a zero-tolerance approach to racism is being adopted and that's the only way to go.

We all understood the dangers of racist copycats, but to do nothing or say nothing in the hope that it would just go away would have been as bad as condoning it,'' he explained.

Though he refused to dislose details about the abusive language Down Under, Smith said, ''It was disgusting. It is hard, if not impossible, to fathom what is going through the minds of the people who shout that kind of stuff.

''It wasn't hard to see how upset and angry the players were.

Given what South African society was, where it has come from and where it is going, nobody wanted to stand aside and let that stuff happen,'' he said.

The abuse forced the International Cricket Council to form an inquiry team to probe into the matter and make recommendations.

''It's good if they are fined or banned, or locked up would be better. But it won't help Monty or any other target for their rubbish. I just hope they are seriously well prepared for the worst eventuality. Then hopefully it won't happen,'' Smith said.

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