ASHES STAR’S RACISM HELL
Australia batsman Khawaja lifts lid on abuse
AUSTRALIA batsman Usman Khawaja has claimed endemic racism delayed the development of ethnic players down Under and led youngsters like him to resent the national team.
Khawaja is expected to bat at No 3 for Australia when the Ashes begins in Brisbane next month. However, the Queensland captain revealed he and others of Asian extraction growing up in Sydney supported touring countries instead.
‘Everything that was going on in our childhood and around us built up this resentment of the Australian cricket team,’ wrote 30-year- old Khawaja in a blog at playersvoice.com.au.
‘I mean, none of them looked like us. I was brought up to be respectful, humble and polite. But when I watched the Aussie team, I saw men who were hardnosed, confident, almost brutish. The same type of men who would sledge me about my heritage growing up.’
Pakistan-born Khawaja, who in 2011 became the first Muslim to represent Australia, emigrated with his parents and two brothers in 1991 when he was four, before coming through the New South Wales system.
‘Getting sledged by opposition players and their parents was the norm,’ added Khawaja, who recalled insults such as ‘f*****g curry muncher’.
‘Some of them said it just quietly enough for only me to hear. It still hurt, but I would never show it. Most of the time it was when I scored runs.
‘It is for this reason why so many of my friends, most of whom were born outside Australia, didn’t support Australia in sporting contests. I didn’t either. Especially in cricket. It was either West Indies, Pakistan, India, Sri Lanka. Anyone else.’
Khawaja, whose average of 63.73 in home conditions should see him recalled against Joe Root’s men after being axed last month in Bangladesh, has since been followed into the Australian team by two others with subcontinental heritage: legspinner Fawad Ahmed and seamer Gurinder Sandhu.
He continued: ‘It’s no surprise it has taken Australia cricket so long for coloured players to come through the system.
‘There is no doubt racism and politics played a large role in selections in the past. “I could have played for Australia but I didn’t get selected because I was black/ Indian/ Pakistani, so I stopped playing” — I’ve heard that story all my life, whether it was from a family friend or just a random bloke.’