The spectator who racially abused England cricket star Jofra Archer in Tauranga has copped a two-year ban from major fixtures in New Zealand.
Barbados-born fast bowler Archer drew attention to the insults, after his unsuccessful rearguard action with the bat during England's first-test loss to the Blackcaps at Mt Maunganui in November.
"A bit disturbing hearing racial insults today whilst battling to help save my team," he tweeted. "The crowd was been amazing this week, except for that one guy."
The matter was referred to NZ Cricket and Tauranga Police, who used closed-circuit TV and appealed to other crowd members for help in their investigation.
Police eventually identified a 28-year-old Auckland man, who admitted abusing Archer and received a verbal warning for using insulting language.
NZ Cricket went one step further, barring the culprit from international and domestic games until 2022. If he breaches the ban, the man will be removed from the ground and face further police action.
"We'd again like to extend our apologies to Jofra and the England team management for such an unsavoury incident and reiterate once more that this type of behaviour is completely unacceptable," says NZ Cricket spokesman Anthony Crummy.
"We want to thank the NZ Police for their efforts in identifying the person responsible and for making it clear that this type of behaviour will not be minimised."
NZC will continue to discourage offensive behaviour and language through signs around venues, and messages via big screens and ground announcers.
But the national body will not disclose the identity of the offender.
