Johannesburg: Pakistan's wicket-keeper Rashid Latif said on Wednesday he planned to take the entire Australian team to court for alleging he racially abused Adam Gilchrist.

"I am not going to leave them," an angry Latif said. "They have ruined my name, my family's name and caused me immense pain."

Latif's outburst came after the International Cricket Council (ICC) cleared Latif of an Australian charge that he had hurled a racial insult at Gilchrist during Tuesday's World Cup match at the Wanderers.

ICC match referee Clive Lloyd, who heard the two sides, cleared Latif of any wrongdoing, saying there was no evidence to prove his guilt. "I heard representation from both parties and video evidence supplied by the Australian Cricket Board," Lloyd said in a statement.

"Taken in its entirety I decided there was not sufficient evidence to prove the allegation. Accordingly, Rashid Latif was exonerated from the charge."

But Latif said he will not let the matter rest. "I have approached the Pakistan Cricket Board for permission to take legal action against the Australians after the World Cup, and I am confident I will get that permission," he said.

"It is difficult to express my anger at what has happened."

Copyright AFP 2001

Extras:
I can't live with racist branding, says exonerated Latif
Lloyd holds hearing on Latif's racial slur on Gilchrist