Usman Khawaja will not wear shoes with human rights message at Perth Test, Pat Cummins says
Usman Khawaja will not wear shoes displaying human rights messages during the first Test against Pakistan, Australian captain Pat Cummins has confirmed.
The 37-year-old has expressed support for Gaza on his Instagram account this week and told reporters he intended to wear the shoes in the Test, which starts on Thursday in Perth.
Cricket Australia (CA) had said it expected Khawaja to play the first Test without displaying any personal messages.
A statement issued by CA on Wednesday said: “We support the right of our players to express personal opinions. But the ICC has rules in place which prohibit the display of personal messages which we expect the players to uphold.”
Khawaja was photographed with the custom Nike shoes at training this week. On his right shoe, he had written “freedom is a human right”. On his left, “all lives are equal”.
Khawaja told reporters in Perth he intended to wear the shoes for the match which starts on Thursday at Optus Stadium.
The International Cricket Council bars the display of messages that relate to political causes during international matches.
However, federal sport minister Anika Wells suggested that Khawaja’s gesture would be allowed by the ICC.
“As federal sport minister I have always advocated for athletes having the right to a voice and to speak up on matters important to them,” Wells said.
“Usman Khawaja is a great athlete and a great Australian. He should have every right to speak up on matters that are important to him. He has done so in a peaceful and respectful way.
“He has done so as an individual and expressed an individual opinion that does not compromise the Australian cricket team’s obligations to the ICC.”
The ICC, Nike and the Australian Cricketers’ Association were approached for comment but have yet to make a formal comment on the matter.
Khawaja shared a video on Instagram from Unicef from Gaza four days ago, and commented: “Do people not care about innocent humans being killed? Or is it the colour of their skin that makes them less important? Or the religion they practice? These things should be irrelevant if you truly believe that ‘we are all equal.’”
The ICC has previously imposed sanctions for the display of what it deems political messages. England’s Moeen Ali was banned from wearing “Save Gaza” and “Free Palestine” wristbands in a Test against India in Southampton in 2014.
England had initially approved the wristbands, but that was overruled by the ICC’s match referee, Australian David Boon.
The ICC’s latest rules and regulations state: “In determining whether a message is for a ‘political, religious or racial cause’, the starting point is that the ICC and its members acknowledge and agree that cricket should be used as a tool to bring people and communities around the world together and not as a platform to draw attention to potentially divisive political issues, rhetoric or agendas.”
Australia have made just one change to the lineup since the most recent Test, with Nathan Lyon returning to the side in place of Todd Murphy.
Mitch Marsh has retained his spot to play in front of a home crowd in Perth at the expense of Cameron Green.
Australia XI: David Warner, Usman Khawaja, Marnus Labuschagne, Steve Smith, Travis Head, Mitch Marsh, Alex Carey, Mitchell Starc, Pat Cummins (c), Nathan Lyon, Josh Hazlewood