Australia's cricketing chiefs said Monday they were assisting a police investigation into shock allegations that an under-19 cricketer was sexually assaulted while on tour in India and Sri Lanka in the 1980s.<\/p>\r\n\r\n
Cricket Australia said it supported ex-Australian under-19 Jamie Mitchell, whose claims that he was raped on the tour by a team official were first reported by national broadcaster ABC on Sunday.<\/p>\r\n\r\n
"We acknowledge and applaud the courage of Jamie Mitchell in speaking out about his experience," the governing body said in a statement, adding that it was "fully assisting" a police probe.<\/p>\r\n\r\n
"We have no tolerance for any form of abuse," said Cricket Australia chief Nick Hockley.<\/p>\r\n\r\n
Mitchell told ABC he was sexually assaulted in Colombo on the last night of the tour in 1985.<\/p>\r\n\r\n
A team official named in the ABC report denied wrongdoing and no charges have been made.<\/p>\r\n\r\n
"Instead of being a highlight of my cricketing life, that tour has caused me trauma and distress over many years," Mitchell said in a statement released by his lawyers to Australian media.<\/p>\r\n\r\n
"Cricket Australia has a chance to distinguish itself by facing up to this issue and doing the right thing. And that means transparency, starting with proper answers to many questions. I'm going to send a list of them to Cricket Australia."<\/p>\r\n\r\n
Former Australian captain Greg Chappell, who was a national selector at the time of the alleged attack, told Nine Entertainment newspapers that he was appalled by the allegations.<\/p>\r\n\r\n
"I would hope that CA will respond in a human way and deal empathetically with the individuals rather than try to defend the organisation," he said.<\/p>\r\n\r\n
"It was a shocking revelation. I would have hoped nothing like that had happened, but realism tells you that other areas of life have seen that sort of thing go on."<\/p>\r\n\r\n