Several sports stars took a stand against racism following the death of an unarmed African-American man in the United States. West Indies star batsman Chris Gayle are among those who have condemned racism, he revealed that racism has been prevalent in cricket as well. Besides that, ICC also made its stand clear against racism, saying that cricket is nothing without diversity.
Here are 5 instances of racism on cricketers:
Jofra Archer racially abused by a fan during Test match against New Zealand
After George Floyd’s death, England pacer Jofra Archer has urging people to speak out against racism and gave his support to the #BlackLiveMatter campaign.
Archer wrote in his column for the Daily Mail here, “‘I’m very glad the Black Lives Matter campaign has got as vocal as this.” In November last year, he was racially abused by a fan during a Test match against New Zealand.
He expressed his view, “As an individual, I’ve always been one for speaking out, especially if something bothers you. My personal view is that you should never bottle things up, because racism isn’t all right.”
Last year, Archer himself had been racially assaulted in Mount Maunganui during England’s 1st Test against New Zealand.
Barbadian-born English cricketer said he was racially abused by a fan during the final day of the first Test at the Bay Oval when he walked back to the pavilion. After the incident, Archer had tweeted out, saying that hearing racial taunts was “a bit disturbing.”
However, the 28-year-old man had admitted racially abusing Archer in November and was forbidden for two years from attending international and domestic games in New Zealand.
When Sarfraz Ahmed called Andile Phehlukwayo “Abey Kaaley”
Former Pakistan captain Sarfraz Ahmed was caught sledging Andile Phehlukwayo, all-rounder of South Africa on the stump mic during last year’s ODI match against South Africa in Durban. That video clip had gone viral, and the Pakistan batsman received serious social media backlash.
The former captain was caught on the stump mic saying: “Abey kaale, teri ammi aaj kahaan baitheen hain? Kya parwa ke aaye hai aaj?” (Hi black man, today where is your mom sitting? What [prayer] did you have her to say for you today?).
The consequences of Sarfarz using racial slurs was the ICC suspended him for four matches.
After that, Sarfraz also met with Andile Phehlukwayo, and apologized for his words.
