Australia coach Justin Langer says his side must heed the words of cricket legend Michael Holding, adding they should have talked more about taking a knee on the current tour of England.
West Indies and England both adopted the gesture during their Test series as part of the Black Lives Matter movement.
Australia opted against taking a knee in England, with captain Aaron Finch indicating prior to the start of the current series that “education around this is more important than a protest”.
West Indies great Holding was unimpressed, dubbing it a “lame statement” from Finch.
“In terms of taking a knee, to be completely honest, we could have talked more about it perhaps leading up to that first game,” Langer told reporters.
“There was so much going on leading up to us getting here, maybe we should have talked a bit more about it.
“The thing we do talk about within the team is that we want to have a response that is sustained and powerful.
“There’s a lot of talking going on in our group … there’s a lot of talk going on in the women’s team as well about how we can have a sustained and powerful response to the Black Lives Matter (movement).”
Earlier this year, Holding was in tears during an eloquent speech about racism that was delivered as part of Sky Sports’ live coverage.
“We all watched his presentation, his heartfelt thoughts,” Langer said.
“When someone like Michael says something like that, it’s important we all listen to it.
“If it looked like there was a lack of respect there, that certainly wasn’t the intention of our team. We’re very aware of it and when Mikey says what he says, then it’s certainly worth listening to and we’ll be doing it.”
Holding’s critique extended to Eoin Morgan’s side.
England paceman Jofra Archer, who has been targeted by racist trolls on social media during his career, disagreed with the iconic paceman.
“I’m pretty sure Michael Holding doesn’t know anything that is going on behind the scenes,” Archer said.
“It is a bit harsh for Mikey to not do some research before criticising.
“We have stuff running in the background.
“We’ve not forgotten, no one here has forgotten about Black Lives Matter.”
Jero
Roar Rookie
I guess they've all been learning themselves up on intersectionalism and critical race theory in their isolation hub, and are all in now.
Just Nuisance
Roar Rookie
Cricket South Africa has recently announced that it will no longer employ white people....it has recently sent our players on a cultural realignment camp.. It s board members are under investigation for fraud.. But still Australia plays cricket against them.. Isn't it constitutionally illegal to play against a country that selects on the basis of race..?
Jero
Roar Rookie
The Social Justice Passenger First XI.
Jak
Guest
politics has no part in this beautiful game. Then why was South Africa banned for so long?
JGK
Roar Guru
That alone would make it worth doing!
Big Red V
Guest
I was of the understanding that it's a "choice" to take the knee or not. However it seems if you "choose" to take the knee, you're ok, but if you choose not to (for whatever reason), then you are viewed negatively. You can still support the movement without turning it into a public spectacle. BTW, don't ALL lives matter....... Just asking......
Jak
Guest
the root of the problem is that most of the cops are racist. this article is about an ex n@zi whose former gang member friends are cops. https://www.thedailybeast.com/he-was-the-neo-nazi-who-inspired-american-history-x-his-nazi-pals-are-now-cops
Jack Russell
Roar Guru
I'm not really sure why Langer wouldn't come out and simply say "We as an organisation do not believe in disrupting the nuclear family, defunding police and abolishing prisons. We are a cricket team." It's not a difficult position to take.
dungerBob
Roar Rookie
It's all moot anyway Paul. Black lives will still be lost in the US while ever the cops there are really, really nervous. The reason they are so edgy is because the place is awash with guns. They didn't shoot that poor Aussie lady because they thought she was Black. They did it because they thought she might have a gun. Taking a knee does show symbolic support but it does nothing to alleviate the root of the problem imo.
Jak
Guest
Yeh, just imagine the hysteria from the fools at sky, 2gb, daily telegraph if Australia took the knee.
Paul
Roar Guru
A question to Mr Holding - how long are players expected to take the sort of action he's advocating? A year? Two? Five? Ten? Second question. What's it achieve if they then go onto the field and abuse each other? I'd rather see a full-on commitment to stamping out racist and other abusive comments at all levels of the game within the next 12 months, than I would see a few guys take a knee in an ODI.
Nick
Roar Guru
Considering Australia has a near unparalleled history in keeping their XI as white as possible over the history of cricket, why are we possibly surprised by this?
Spanner
Roar Rookie
Just play cricket boys - politics has no part in this beautiful game. Online trolling cant be allowed to dictate our actions. There wouldnt be a troller who would know a cricket ball from an Easter egg. Just play the game Aussie.