MANCHESTER, England, CMC – England’s most successful Test bowler said his team will discuss how to show solidarity with the Black Lives Matter movement during the upcoming series against the West Indies, as protests spread across the globe following last month’s killing of a black man in police custody in the United States.
James Anderson, who was questioned by journalists during a conference call on Tuesday, said cricketers needed to be more active in the fight against racism and reflected on whether he had contributed enough to that struggle in the sport.
West Indies captain Jason Holder, who arrived here on Tuesday in a 25-man squad, said he would consult with his teammates on showing solidarity with the protests being staged in response to the May 25 death of George Floyd in Minneapolis.
Floyd died after Derek Chauvin, a white police officer, pressed his knee on his neck for nearly nine minutes while arresting him on a charge of passing a counterfeit $20 bill at a grocery store.
“I think it’s been a very thought-provoking few weeks for everyone. It’s made me do a lot of thinking and I think we definitely will have conversations about what we can do as players to make a stand,” Anderson said when asked whether the England team would discuss doing their part.
“As players, and as a game, we need to be more active. Certainly, it’s made me think about ‘have I experienced racism on a cricket field?’ I couldn’t remember any instances. I wasn’t there in New Zealand when Jofra Archer was racially abused, but it made me think ‘have I just turned a blind eye to things?’ I’d try and support my teammates if they do suffer any sort of abuse, but have I actually been active in supporting them and things like that?” the fast bowler added.
Archer, a Barbadian-born pace bowler, was the subject of racial taunts during England’s defeat in the first Test against the Kiwis last November. A spectator was subsequently banned for two years from attending domestic and international matches.
Referring to a Tweet by George Dobell, who on Wednesday pointed out that by the end of last year there was only one UK-born, state-educated black man playing first-class cricket, Anderson said that was “just not okay”.
“We need to actively make this game for everyone. It can’t keep going the way it is; that’s just not okay,” he said.
Several cricketers, including former West Indies captain Darren Sammy, have spoken out against racism in the sport, on the heels of the Floyd protests.
Recently, he claimed that he and Sri Lanka all-rounder Thisara Perera were subjected to racist slurs during their stint with Indian Premier League franchise Sunrisers Hyderabad.
Sammy said he was unaware that ‘Kalu’, which he was called by his teammates, was derogatory.