The United Cricket Board of South Africa today brushed aside reports which claimed that black players were being racially discriminated by their white counterparts in the national team.

UCB CEO Gerald Majola said no player of colour had complained of being a victim of racial discrimination and that Board officials had not come across any incidents of racism.

He was reacting to newspaper reports that several players of colour have complained of being treated with disdain because of their colour.

"None of the players I spoke to within the last week made any mention at all to me of being a victim of racist incident," said Majola.

"These are serious allegations and powerful and convincing proof would be needed to back them up," he said.

The claims of racism were published in The Independent Group of newspapers in Durban, Johannesburg, Pretoria and Cape Town.

Players of colour, who declined to be named, claimed that they were made to feel "very unwelcome" in the South African cricket camp.

They also claimed that they were not welcomed by some of the "white" players."The last two months can be described as the worst in my life. In the changerooms we are made to feel we have encroached into their territory. However, when we are in the eye of the public a totally different picture is painted to the masses," one player of colour was quoted as saying in the reports.

One player said that in the past 18 months he had not said more than ten sentences to star batsman Jacques Kallis.

On being asked how another player of colour, Herschelle Gibbs, fitted into the set-up, another player said, "Herschelle's character is not such that he would stand up for the other players of colour. He does not worry about issues like this, but I wish he would take a stance some day as it's important for those players of colour coming through."

The claims of racism in South Africa comes against the background of a recently aborted ICC inquiry into racism in cricket in Zimbabwe.

Nearly all the white players in Zimbabwe have left the national squad after former captain Heath Streak complained that white players were being sidelined in preference to new black players.