Graeme Smith breaks silence over race bias claims

Former South Africa captain Graeme Smith on Friday responded to allegations of bias against black players by stating that he had "personal relationship challenges" with several other players during his time in charge.

Smith, currently Cricket South Africa´s director of cricket, has come under fire in recent weeks for appointing former Test wicketkeeper Mark Boucher as national team coach.

He has also been accused of allowing black players to feel isolated during his time as captain.

Smith, who captained South Africa in a world record 108 Test matches from 2003 until 2014, as well as 149 oneday internationals, said he realised early in his captaincy that it would not be possible to please everyone in his team.

Former wicketkeeper Thami Tsolekile was particularly critical of Smith during a radio interview on Tuesday, blaming Smith for keeping him out of the Test team after Boucher suffered a career-ending injury on a 2012 tour of England.

Fast bowler Makhaya Ntini earlier said he felt "lonely" as a player despite playing in 101 Tests and he also felt he was unfairly dropped from the team towards the end of his career.

Although Tsolekile, who has subsequently been banned for 12 years for his role in a match-fixing scandal in a domestic competition, was in the squad as a reserve wicketkeeper, the gloves were handed to leading batsman AB de Villiers.

"I look at many respected captains around the world and there are plenty of players who felt they were not given a fair chance," said Smith in a statement which he said was issued in his personal capacity.