Khawaja hints at ‘double standards’
Cricket Australia chief Nick Hockley has hinted that Usman Khawaja’s outwardly pro-Palestinian stance in the build-up to the first Test contributed to the opener being denied the right to carry a sticker of a dove on his bat and shoes in the Boxing Day Test.
Khawaja on Monday night accused the ICC of double standards after the governing body rejected his push to use the universal symbol of peace, along with a reference to the first article of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, during the MCG Test against Pakistan. CA had worked with Khawaja to find an inoffensive solution after the ICC had first blocked his request to wear shoes adorned with humanitarian messages written in the Palestinian colours of red, green and black.
On Christmas night, Khawaja posted on Instagram a montage of examples that included teammate Marnus Labuschagne using a bat with a sticker of a Bible verse and said the ICC had not implemented its rules consistently.
While Hockley did not confirm that Khawaja’s decision to initially allude to the plight of one group of people in the Israel-Hamas war over another had hurt his cause, he said the “broader context” of the batter’s stance had played a role, according to the ICC.
“My understanding is the context of the lead into the Perth Test and the context of the lead into the making of the application (contributed),” Hockley said on Tuesday.
“Again, we work with Uzzie to try to find something which is nonpartisan, non-religious, apolitical, the universally recognised symbol of peace.
“... The ICC have got their rules. I think they explained the rationale really clearly and we respect that.”
Khawaja’s Instagram post showed a screen shot of the ICC regulations around personal messages on clothing and equipment.
It highlighted the prohibition against religious, racial or political messages along with images of Labuschagne, Keshav Maharaj and Nicholas Pooran displaying religiousthemed stickers on their bats.
“Sometimes you just gotta laugh. Cya at Boxing Day! #inconsistent #doublestandards,” Khawaja said.