The other day, hours after wearing t-shirts stating how cricket knows no discrimination, reports came out of an England player having tweeted racist and sexist comments. This revelation was quickly followed by the kind of apology that a child may give, ‘sorry I was caught, but it was over 8 years ago so…’ (I’m paraphrasing), and an announcement after the match that the player would be suspended, pending an investigation. The British Prime Minister, Boris Johnson, the pilar of integrity and ethics and nuance, then objected to the ban, supporting his Culture Secretary, Oliver Dowden (note: this was the first time I’d ever heard of Mr Dowden), calling for the ECB (England and Wales Cricket Board…huh? Shouldn’t that be EWCB?) to ‘rethink’ the ban. The Prime Minister who constantly cheats on his wives, let’s wealthy doners pay for things such as the refurbishment of his flat, found no issue with behaviour which can have serious consequences for others. I’ll pause here to give you a moment to get over your shock at this.
I have long suspected the ECB, The England Team and some fans of showing racial biases in their actions. The very name alone, ECB, shows one bias from the start as though Wales is not worthy to be considered as anything other than England.
The English cricketer, spinning all-rounder (bats and bowls) Moeen Ali recently spoke of being made a scapegoat by the England Team to explain poor performances. Mr Ali, the only Muslim in the team and of Indian descent, was justified in his comments. Given his flexibility and given how poor the England team have been over the last few years, Mr Ali, in the Test Team, would be moved from different batting positions- he would open or come in at three (first change) or down at 8 (he batted in every position from 1-11). Each position requires a different skill set and for a player to be moved from match to match would be very hard to do, considering how players often want to make one position their own and then thrive with a secure foundation. Ali’s form with the bat was up and down as he was moved around and often it would be him that the English media, public and team highlighted for the team losing. Mr Ali is a world-class spin bowler with an incredible record, however, as with many of us, he depended on confidence to thrive. Losses being attributed to his batting and bowling would have dented his confidence. When England started playing two spinners, the Media asked why and were told it was because Mr Ali did not feel comfortable as a frontline bowler and wanted to the be back-up spinner. The insinuations here were obvious- we are having to change everything because Mr Ali wants a comfort blanket, so if we struggle it is all his fault. The media went along with it calling him a ‘part-time’ bowler, even given his world records at bowling, made even more uncomfortable when another All-Rounder, Ben Stokes, would be called a front-line bowler and batter even though his numbers were nowhere near as good as Mr Ali’s. Consider during a Test serious a few years ago, the England All-Rounder batsman and wicket-keeper John Bairstow said in an interview, when asked if he would move up the order to help with the batting replied, ‘I bat at 7 and I keep wicket’, which the ECB had no comment on. On one hand you had a player who was doing everything the could for the team and another who was only focused on himself. One of the players was a white English person, the other an Indian heritage Islamic Englishman. Guess which the team seemed to take issue with? The one who cared about the team or the one who cared about himself (hint: the former was the Muslim and the later white).
(note: in 2020 the England players were rotated to deal with the stresses of being in bio-secure environments. It was prearranged when each player would leave. However, the England Team came out and said that Mr Ali was the only one they asked to miss his prearranged rotation and that he declined giving a lot of the blame to Mr Ali for something all of the other players and staff were doing).
Whilst this may seem inconclusive and as we do not have many instances of ‘non-whites’ playing for England. The next good example would be the Indian heritage spin bowler, Monty Panesar. Monty Panesar, or ‘Monty’ as the media, including the irritatingly smug and insecure Johnathan Agnew, would call him, was a world-class spinner. If not for Grahame Swan being around at the same time, arguably England’s greatest ever spin bowler, Mr Panesar would have had a longer Test Match career. However, as Mr Panesar himself has stated, he was treated by the ECB, the team, the media and the public, as a joke. People would laugh at him as he ran for the ball, they would mock his bad fielding, or, to be blunt, to the English cricketing word, he was a figure of fun. Whereas Ben Stokes could fracture someone’s skull and be made Vice-Captain, Mr Panesar would be villainised for making a mistake with the ball running past him.
This kind of double standards was not contained to the English players with an ethnic heritage, it also went in without the main group of players (clique). When there was a problem between the England team and the South-African born Kevin Pietersen the whole of the English cricket machine turned against him. That there was evidence of him being bullied by senior team members (such as Stuart Broad, Grahame Swan (who gives the word ‘smug’ a bad name)) was irrelevant, they were having fun but the brilliant Kevin Pietersen, South African born, was a rotten apple that had to be removed.
I could go on, but in the name of brevity, I will reach my point.
The portraits painted above seem to indicate, strongly, racism in English cricket and (whilst the players (except for Mr Ali) are removed from it) one must consider the consequences. If you are a young Muslim boy who dreams of being a cricketer and idolises Mr Ali, to see how he was treated would make one think ‘this would happen to me too’, something they ay have already experienced in life. Likewise, a young girl from a Pakistani descent who sits and show her parents a cricket match and says ‘I want to do that’ will have to field questions such as, ‘why are they all laughing at the Indian guy? Why is his Captain mocking him post-match?’. Cricket is almost a religion in India and Pakistan and is widely played in the UK, however, representation at the highest levels is lacking. Now you need to go to a posh white school or come from a poor white background to play for England. If you are black or brown or yellow or green or etc. forget it, the game is not meant for you. And if you don’t believe me, just ask the ECB of the UK Prime Minister. If you find this repulsive and incredibly racist, then you are forgetting the one rule that every victim must follow. Just Get Over It.
‘till next time
thegreaterfool2016 