The Australian opener Usman Khawaja wore a black armband during the first test against Pakistan in Perth Stadium.
Usman Khawaja’s black armband gesture
Australian batter Usman Khawaja is hopeful that the ICC will approve his gesture on human rights. He wore a black armband during the Boxing Day Test at Perth Stadium.
The Aussies won the first test of the Pakistan tour of Australia in 2023 with a 360-run difference.
Chief executive Nick Hockley revealed that CA proposed to ICC an alternative way for the player to take part in humanitarian issues. But ICC blocked the player’s attempt to wear shoes with a quote “Freedom is a human right” and “All lives are equal” for the Test match.
The 37-year-old has been part of scenes in shaping CA’s push to make the sport more inclusive for South Asian communities, has told Hockley after seeing the ongoing crisis in the Middle East.
During the press conference at MCG, Khawaja said ICC to be consistent in applying its regulations.
“I don’t have any agendas, other than to shine a light on what I feel very passionate and strong about,” Khawaja told reporters.
“I’m trying to do it in the most respectful way possible. What I wrote on my shoes, I thought about it for a while. I made sure I didn’t want to segregate different parts of the population, religious beliefs, and community, hence why I kept religion out of this.
“I’m talking about humanitarian issues… That is literally the crux of it.
“The reason I’m doing it is because it hit me hard. I told Nick (Hockley) literally just this morning that when I’m looking at my Instagram, and I see kids, innocent kids, videos of them dying, that’s what’s hit me the hardest.
“I just imagined my young daughter … I get emotional talking about it right now. For me, that’s the reason I’m doing this. I don’t have any hidden agendas … I don’t get anything out of this. I just feel like it’s my responsibility to speak up on this.
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“We live in such a beautiful country. I’m blessed to be able to live in Australia, I can walk outside and not have to worry about a thing. My kids can do the same. I just want that for the rest of the world.”
ICC disapproved of the Australian player’s action of wearing a black armband in Perth carries no financial or playing penalty.
“Usman displayed a personal message (armband) during the first Test match against Pakistan without seeking the prior approval of Cricket Australia and the ICC to display it, as required in the regulations for personal messages,” an ICC official said.
The ICC’s clothing and equipment guidelines for international cricket dictate that “no logo shall be permitted to be displayed on cricket clothing or cricket equipment, other than a national logo, a commercial logo, an event logo, a manufacturer’s logo, a player’s bat logo, a charity logo or a non-commercial logo as provided in these regulations.”
“The ICC asked me on day two (of the Perth Test) what (the black armband) was for, I told them it was for a personal bereavement. I never ever stated it was for anything else,” he said.
“The shoes were for a different matter, I’m happy to say that, but the armband (reprimand) made no sense to me.
“I followed all the regulations and past precedents – guys have put stickers on their bats, names on their shoes, done all sorts of things in the past without ICC approval and never been reprimanded.
“I respect the ICC and all the regulations they have, I will be asking them and contesting them … From my point of view, that consistency hasn’t been done yet.”
“The ICC has rules in place for very good reason and we expect our players to follow and comply with those regulations,” he said.
“The work that we’ve been doing since is to see if there’s a really respectful way that is very much unifying, that brings people together, to allow Uzzie to really share his message.
“That’s the subject now of ICC consideration … we’ll wait to see the outcome of those before going any further.”
The second Test of the Pakistan tour of Australia 2023 will be starting on December 26 at Melbourne Cricket Ground.
