South African wrist-spinner Tabraiz Shamsi said he has never been a subject of any racism within the Proteas cricketing set-up, adding that the culture camp held in Skukuza recently has just reinvigorated in him the feeling of being respectful to everyone's views.
Nationally contracted, South Africa A team, as well those players identified to serve the country in the future were part of the 32-member squad that took part in the camp organised to reinforce the need to uphold values of respect, empathy and belonging.
The camp was Cricket South Africa's (CSA) way of supporting the ongoing 'Black Lives Matter' campaign, which was evident even when their cricketers among others took a knee during the '3TCricket' match organised for the Solidarity Cup.
"I think for me, the biggest thing was that as a group we realised that there's a lot of strength in being able to communicate, rather than just sitting and assuming," Shamsi said in an official release issued by CSA.
"Once we air out our views and understand things from the other person perspective, then things become a lot clearer and a lot easier for us to understand where people are coming from, where their hurt is coming from, where their happiness is coming from."
"In the Proteas environment, I've never personally experienced any racism. The past players have spoken about it and how things were not equal and stuff like that."
"I think even the players that did make it, had to go through some hurdles that they shouldn''t have had to experience if there was a level playing field," he added.
Shamsi was absolutely clear with his stance, championing the cause to try and eradicate racism from the society.
"That's the biggest thing that we need to acknowledge and understand. We need to ensure that kind of stuff is not tolerated and taken away from the system.
"As a group of players, we need to create that bubble and ensure it doesn't happen."
"We need to understand that we are one and we are going out there to fight as a team, to fight for each other, and to fight for our country. We must understand where we're coming from."
The 30-year-old, who has played 2 Tests, 22 ODIs and 22 T20Is so far, also feels the future is bright for South African cricket despite worries borne out of the nation's results at the highest level across formats in recent years following the retirements some of their greatest cricketers.
"We always want to improve and get better. We're in a unique position at the moment where most of our senior players retired in a big clump and experience is something you can't buy," said Shamsi.
"It leaves a massive gap yes, there aren't natural successors to some of these players, but the way I look at it is that we're a young group with many players that can step in."
"I am a positive person and this leaves us in a unique position. We're now an unknown package and because there are so many new players, that doesn't have to be a bad thing."
"We all know each other having played against each other in domestic cricket for so long so I think we can look forward to a bright future," he concluded.
