Featherston woman Amy Ross at a match at Westpac Stadium. The sports fan does not want to go back to a cricket game after being abused and groped at an ODI.

New Zealand Cricket has promised to beef up match day security after a female spectator was groped and abused at a one day international match.

Amy Ross had comments hurled her such as "stupid dyke" at the fifth ODI between the Black Caps and Pakistan at the Basin Reserve on January 19. She said felt like she was facing a pack of dogs.

What made matters worse, she said, was Red Badge Security guards stood back and did nothing while it was happening. They later admitted to her they had "lost control".

HAGEN HOPKINS/GETTY IMAGES A fan stands amongst rubbish left on the embankment during game five of the ODI between NZ and Pakistan at Basin Reserve on January 19. A homosexual couple were verbally abused, one of the pairing was groped.

The 39-year-old was sitting on the Wellington venue's grassy bank with her girlfriend, among a group of 100 or so men, who were mostly drunk and aged in their 30s and 40s. She said the men were chanting obscenities, skolling beer and harassing the Pakistani cricketers.

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She had a ball thrown at her ribs. Ross also had a drunk man clamber over her, putting his hands all over her body in the process.

HANNAH PETERS/GETTY IMAGES Spectators at the Black Caps game against Pakistan at Bay Oval on Sunday night will be able to call an assistance line if they feel unsafe.

"I told him not to touch me and he responded with, 'don't be so precious'." The man later returned, purposely touching Ross again and called her a c....

"It's awful because you don't want to cry because it makes you feel weak. And you definitely don't want them to see it because it's like letting them win.

"You feel like an animal that's being preyed upon, but you don't want to run because you feel like you'll be chased."

New Zealand Cricket public affairs manager Richard Boock said 10-20 patrons were ejected from the Basin Reserve for a number of reasons, including "offensive language or behaviour, intoxication, and bringing contraband into the venue".

"NZC does not think it's right to accept these anti-social behaviours on the basis is just 'part of our national culture'," Boock said.

He said a 'text assistance line' for patrons who needed help would be introduced across all international cricket venues.

This would include Mt Maunganui's Bay Oval, where the third and deciding T20 match against Pakistan will be played on Sunday night, and fixtures against Australia and England over the coming weeks.

He added that sports organisations shared in the responsibility of promoting atmospheres in which "discrimination of any type is challenged and denounced".

NZC said in a letter to Ross "what you had to tolerate was unacceptable and we feel we have let you down."

NZC offered Ross an unreserved apology after she sent the organisation a letter. "It is completely unacceptable that a racist, sexist, homophobic culture is allowed to thrive around sport," she wrote.

"If we as a society are serious about ending male violence against women this kind of behaviour must carry consequences."

The experience exemplified "everything that's wrong with New Zealand male culture", Ross later said.

"You wouldn't find these guys out in the street doing this stuff to the same degree. That behaviour has been normalised, and is acceptable because 'it's sport'."

Ross received a call from Red Badge Security after the game. "They acknowledged that they 'lost control'," she said.

The firm did not respond to requests for comment.

Otago University professor Steve Jackson, who specialises in the socio-cultural analysis of sport, said Ross' experience highlighted that despite societal changes in relation to racism, sexism and homophobia, "there remain individuals who continue to engage in unacceptable behaviour".

"Culturally and institutionally New Zealand has a long way to go," he said.

Victoria University senior lecturer Dr Dean Knight, who has a special interest in diversity and inclusion in sport, agreed.

"It's quite insidious, and it's quite out of place with the steps some of these organisations have taken to make sure their sports are diverse, inclusive and not homophobic.

"They've got to take charge of the spectators within their broader sporting communities and root it out," Knight said.

"Culturally, this issue has built up over time and it's hard work to change that behaviour, but they [sports organisations] must. The reality is society is moving forward and embracing inclusivity. Rejecting homophobia needs to happen, and they can't be passive about it," Knight said.