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Usman Khawaja has opened up about his complicated relationship with Australian cricket and how he believes subconscious racial bias continues to affect the game in this country right up to the highest level.
Australia’s Test opener spoke in depth to journalist Osman Faruq Sydney Morning Heraldreveals how he did not support the nations cricket team growing up.
But among the khawajas, the worst comments were that he felt the Australian cricket landscape is still not changing and the lack of representation at high performance level is a major concern for players of colour.
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That’s where I’m trying to work with Cricket Australia, saying, Look, guys… you’re putting a lot of money into this, but it’s not going well. You’ve been doing it for 10 years and nothing has changed,” Khawaja told the publication.
He pointed out that younger generations of South Asian background still do not choose to support the team of their country of birth.
Asked what the problem was, Khawaja said that the highest positions in Australian cricket, from administrators to selectors, all being filled by white people, was a big problem.
There is an unconscious bias. If you have two cricketers, one brown, one white, both the same, the white coach will pick the white cricketer just because he has a son who might look like him. He is familiar with it.
Khawajas’ assessment is accurate as the entire CA board, national selectors and senior coaching staff are white.
Khawaja himself is an exception. Few people of color have risen through the ranks to play professional cricket for Australia, while Khawaja was the first South Asian-born player to play Test cricket for the nation.
Today, he still often resembles Australian crickets, most of which are white.
Last month, he revealed on Twitter how he was regularly stopped by security to check his credentials despite wearing an official team uniform in the middle of a set.
I was stopped 3 times last year at our hotel while in the Australian pack and asked if I was with the Australian Cricket team… Khawaja wrote.
Born in Pakistan, Khawaja moved to Sydney at a young age, where he grew up and played cricket in the eastern suburbs, particularly with David Warner.
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He made his Test debut in January 2011, but over the next 11 years he fell in and out of the Australian XI.
Khawaja has played 56 Tests but the player, who now averages 47.83 and 79.68 since his last replay in January 2022, realizes there should be a lot more to his name.
Asked if the lack of diversity at the highest level has held him back, Faruq said: I would have been picked many times in the squads but I wasn’t.
But it just gave me a bigger chip on my shoulder.
Khawaja vowed to continue fighting for change in Australian cricket.
We have come a long way, he said. But I keep doing it because I want people to know what it’s like.
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Sources 2/ https://www.foxsports.com.au/cricket/australia/cricket-australia-2022-news-india-tour-usman-khawaja-opens-up-on-racism-in-australian-cricket/news-story/656b2f6690a74dfb273d0e02c833bcf4 The mention sources can contact us to remove/changing this article |
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