HOLDING: RACE PREJUDICE BRED INTO OUR KIDS
MICHAEL HOLDING broke down ahead of the first Test after delivering a passionate, eloquent and hard-hitting black history lesson.
After a powerful ‘Black Lives Matter’ feature with the West Indies and former England cricketer Ebony Rainford-brent, his voice cracking, Holding said: “I remember my school days. I was never taught anything good about black people and you cannot have a society that is brought up like that.
“If you don’t educate people, they’ll grow up in that society and you’ll not get meaningful change. The dehumanisation of the black race is where it started. People will tell you, ‘It is a long time ago, get over it’. No, society has not got over it.
“Look at the image of Jesus Christ. Pale skin, blonde hair and blue eyes. Where he came from, who looks like that in that part of the world? This is the brainwashing to show this is what the image of perfection is. The image of Judas is as a black man, he is the bad man.”
The players from West Indies and England took the knee as international cricket finally resumed after the Covid lockdown. In this new normal things such as handshakes after the toss are forbidden, something Jason Holder comically forgot after Ben Stokes decided to bat first.
The teams also paid respects to both the lives that had been lost in the pandemic and to Sir Everton Weekes, a Windies batting legend who has passed away last week. Persistent showers meant only 17.4 overs were possible at the bio-secure Ageas Bowl, with poor Dom Sibley the fall guy with a fourth-ball duck.
England reached 35-1, but it was a day about so much more than runs and wickets. As Rainfordbrent (inset) said: “Black lives is an emotional subject but it’s time to get focused. I want to see accelerated change in society and we need to focus on our game.”
Meanwhile, Stuart Broad took his first axing at home for eight years like an “absolute champion” before wishing stand-in skipper Ben Stokes all the best.
“It was a very, very big decision,” said Stokes.
“There was a lot of disappointment with this being the first game back. It was tough, but Stuart took it like a champion and he wished me all the best.
“It’s a big day for me and we’re quite close off the field. It was a very tough call to make on Broady and Woakesy (Chris Woakes), but they understood the reasons.”
R Burns not out ................. 20 Dsibleybgabriel ................ 0 J Denly not out ................... 14
nb1 .......................... 1 1 wkt (17.4 overs)... 35 1-0
Z Crawley, B Stokes, O Pope, J Buttler, D Bess J Archer, M Wood, J Anderson.
Roach 6-4-2-0; Gabriel 5-1-19-1; Joseph 3.4-111-0; Holder 3-1-3-0