After the ECB came under severe attack for not honoring the Black Lives Matter Movement in their series against Australia and Pakistan, West Indies captain, Stafanie Taylor announced that the players from both sides will be taking a knee for all matches in the upcoming tour. Earlier, on the resumption of international cricket, the English men took a knee with their West Indian counterpart throughout the Test series.
It’s always heartening to see sportspersons’ stand up for fundamental human rights and dignity to be afforded to all people, irrespective of race, class, gender, and any of the biases that divide us. The Caribbean captain expressed her team’s intent on taking a knee and applauded the English women for joining in.
“They’re very much in support of it. It’s very much what we want to do, and they’re going to support whatever we decide, and, yeah, we are going to be honouring the Black Lives Matter movement,” Taylor said in an interview with ESPNCricinfo. “We will be wearing the Black Lives Matter movement logo on our jersey but, yeah, we’ll be taking a knee for all the games,” she added.
The much-anticipated return of women’s cricket is here, and the series kicks start on Monday, 21st September. That would also be the last week of Women’s Cricket Month, and the 3rd T20I will be broadcasted on free-to-air television all across England.
The 3rd T20I on 26th September (Saturday) between @englandcricket and @windiescricket will be simulcast live on the @BBC and @SkySports, the first time women’s international cricket in the UK has been on free-to-air television since the 1993 Women’s World Cup final. #ENGvWI pic.twitter.com/JBrekz0zO3
— Female Cricket (@imfemalecricket) August 26, 2020
Taylor praised the English women for reversing the trend in the last few series set by the men’s side on English shores, and stated the importance of this symbolic act, “A lot has been happening around the world and you pretty much want to be on the same page. It was really nice of her (Knight) to send a message to say, ‘Hey Staf, you know, we’re very much in support of the Black Lives Matter movement, and we want to support it as best as we can, so let me know what it is that you want to do’. That brings a smile to all of our faces.”
All sports, including cricket, inspires us and unites us like nothing else because it represents the best qualities in society and us. The West Indies legend and former World Cup winner, Holding, documented his experience of racism in sports. When something is wrong in society, a spokesperson standing up against it lends voice to the movement and makes it absolutely clear that, like in cricket, all lives can’t matter if black lives don’t matter.
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