KIDS WILL NOW KNOW HOMOPHOBIC ABUSE IS WRONG

ABOVE all else Joe Root did in this game, and he batted and captained brilliantly, nothing was as powerful as the words he spoke on the third afternoon: ‘Don’t use it as an insult, there’s nothing wrong with being gay.’ There were just a dozen of them, but those words will have greater resonance in the long run than anything else. As England captain, he is a role model, a hero and kids hang on every word that passes his lips. I am aware that ‘gay’ is bandied around as a derogatory term in school playgrounds and at lower levels of cricket around the UK. It’s totally unacceptable. Hopefully young people will hear Joe’s words and realise it’s not a gag any more. Like many others, I put rainbow laces on for a day every year to show my support for the LGBT community in sport. While that gets the message out there, this message from a man of the status of England captain, playing to a global TV audience, is a much stronger one. When someone like Root stands up, others will follow. He did not respond to Shannon Gabriel as a PR stunt, or to seek attention. It was an off-the-cuff reaction to something that he was not prepared to accept. Quite simply, homophobic abuse should never be accepted. I have no idea who said what to whom to trigger it. It has all been whispers and conjecture. Having the stump microphones on all the time should mean that you hear everything and everyone is kept in line. But on this occasion it hasn’t happened. The only thing they have managed to pick up is Root’s comeback. If Joe’s 12 words can get to every school playground and every club game, that this has no place in cricket, it will be the best thing to come out of this Test. People have been suggesting it is a cultural thing. That those are the types of comments you get in this part of the world. That is not an excuse for me. Not in 2019. The International Cricket Council clearly agreed and last night charged Gabriel with a breach of their code of conduct. Root has done a lot of good things as a cricketer and his time as England captain has shown him to be an outstanding leader. This week has shown him to be a very special human being as well.