Cummins doesn’t kneed criticism

PAT Cummins has responded to accusations he’s a “woke” Australian captain and defended his team’s right to take a knee against the

West Indies.

Cummins wrongly wore the blame for Alinta Energy walking away from its $40m sponsorship of Cricket Australia and, as a result, has inadvertently become embroiled in the culture wars.

On social media, Cummins has been a lightning rod for criticism over his respect for climate change science and taking a knee in support of Black Lives Matter.

Cummins on Tuesday was asked to address the perception he is “too woke” and that he should simply “stick to cricket”.

“In this position you’re always going to upset people, whether you do something or you don’t do something,” said Cummins. “That’s fine. I kind of know what I signed up for.

“I also think we’re cricket players but you can’t leave your values at the door.

“People stand for different things, and something like taking a knee this week, we’re doing it out of respect for the West Indies, in support of equality. Anyone who says that’s a bad thing, I’m not too bothered about.”

Australia has taken the knee in support of Black Lives Matter on multiple occasions before in white-ball cricket, but on Wednesday will recognise the movement for the first time in a Test match.

Cummins will speak to Windies captain Kraigg Brathwaite about Australia’s intention to take a knee and also participate in a barefoot circle to respect Aboriginal people.

“We’ve done it in different formats over the last two years. We obviously took the knee against them in the T20 series (recently before the World Cup),” Cummins said.