Cricket: Black Caps fans set to continue protesting Scott Kuggeleijn's selection with banners

The protest against Black Caps all-rounder Scott Kuggeleijn is far from over.

Kuggeleijn continued his return to the international cricket scene on Wednesday night - his second international played in New Zealand since being found not guilty of rape in a 2017 trial, despite admitting the woman involved had said she didn't want to have sex with him.

The 27-year-old's return wasn't received well by some fans, with one woman protesting Kuggeleijn's inclusion with a banner which read "No means no" to promote sexual consent.

Security had tried to confiscate the sign but later issued an apology after the woman posted her disgust on Twitter.

But it appears that more signs directed at Kuggeleijn are expected in the stands tonight when the Black Caps play India in a Twenty20 at Eden Park.

A Twitter user posted photos this morning of two signs which read, "No means no" and "Stop picking Kuggeleijn" with the tweets: "Got tickets am AMPED for the cricket today," and "I'm going today, with my sons... Will be holding these...."

Got tickets am AMPED for the cricket today..... pic.twitter.com/xaslDiY2MT

— Kākāriki Two Ticks (@egorub) February 7, 2019

Good on you, hope they listen. @HDPA was just wondering about this! https://t.co/MBWbmO5IR5

— Fleur Fitzsimons (@FleurFitzsimons) February 7, 2019

100% agree with this. If they decide to continue to select him in their teams then they have to acknowledge that there will be protest. They can't shut that down, those are the consequences of selecting him.

— Sarah Chambers (@sarahpolo10) February 7, 2019

One female fan retweeted the post with the comment "Good on you, hope they listen".

New Zealand Cricket couldn't confirm whether or not the signs would be allowed.

"The test will be whether the signs are deemed offensive, and/or whether they are deemed both offensive and targeting an individual player," a NZC spokesperson said.

"This will be judged on a case-by-case basis."

New Zealand Cricket public affairs manager Richard Boock told NZME yesterday that the decision to remove the banner on Wednesday was a mistake.

"We agree the course of action taken was an overreaction and unnecessary, and that the message certainly wasn't offensive.

"NZC has a venue policy that does not allow the targeting of players - but policies are guidelines; they're not written in stone, and we should have shown better judgement and exercised more discretion.

"We apologise unreservedly and will be discussing this in our debrief with a view to avoiding similar mistakes in the future."

Kuggeleijn contributed 20 runs from seven balls in the Black Caps' record 80-run win on Wednesday, but struggled with the ball, conceding 34 runs from his two overs.