Cricket needs no more examples of racism

Racism is not only in football its in cricket too Even within teams as a black man I get the end of the stick That racism exists in cricket West Indian Chris Gayles remarks in an Instagram post are not surprising but sad Gayle it must be noted has been part of Twenty20 gigs all across the cricketing globe West Indies Australia Bangladesh Canada Pakistan UAE South Africa Zimbabwe and its quite unlikely that he is in exaggeration mode or suffering from a persecution complexGayles post came on the same day as his former limited overs captain Darren Sammys call for cricket establishments to join the fight against racism in the wake of AfricanAmerican George Floyds May 25 killing in Minneapolis USAThe utterances of Gayle and Sammy were commendable in a world full of fencesitters and mute spectators Kumar Sangakkara was also quick with a condemnation that said there shouldnt be any place for prejudice in a cultureRacism in the willow game was not unknown but the film on West Indies cricket Fire in Babylon probably opened our eyes further to see how much of a deadly poison it is In it Sir Viv Richards said remarks like You black this and you black that enraged himGordon Greenidge revealed he faced racism during his schooling days in England and of course on that illfated tour which West Indies under Clive Lloyd lost 15 to Greg Chappells tight outfit in 197576 Michael Holding said that the crowd made remarks which were not politically correct Little did they know that very year a comment would come from Englands Tony Greig who wanted to make them grovel Greigs supporters did not believe that grovel had any racial connotations but the West Indians didnt take it well and Greig paid the price for what he admitted was a silly commentIn the book Hitting Across The Line published in 1991 Richards said that he faced taunts in Australia like You fk off you black btd It did not miss the attention of Ian Chappell who had led the Australian team with Richards in the opposition during Kerry Packers World Series Cricket A disturbed Ian immediately spoke to his brother Greg to check whether any player under his captaincy racially abused Richards Greg indicated that he wouldnt have spared anyone if they did A relieved Ian did not miss out on an opportunity to check with Richards himself when he arrived in Australia to promote Hitting Across the Line during the 1992 World Cup Richards laughed and said it was an Australian fast bowler who did so only a couple of times but the matter was settled I thought he was ignorant and I found out later he thought I was arrogant We discovered this over a few drinks in England Now were mates Richards was quoted as telling his former adversary in Chappelli The Cutting EdgeIans concern was based on the fact that he had a zerotolerance policy for racial abuse In the same book he revealed that he warned his players before undertaking their 197273 tour of the West Indies that they shouldnt prefix their comments to the West Indians with the word black Chappell was glad that none of his players racially abused the oppositionRichards in Fire in Babylon said he got annoyed when someone called him a black btd because I am not oneIans problem with that term was also due to the fact that no one called an Englishman a white btd Well an England player was mdash a great fast bowler who answered to the name of Fred Trueman The Yorkshireman wrote in Ball of Fire The biggest row on that tour 195354 series in the West Indies came when I was doing some stock fast medium bowling in a minor match deputising for someone who had been injured I put one just short of a length to a man who is now dead and gone mdash and he called me a white English btd I told him that if he said that again I would bloody do him A couple of overs later he did say it again so I gave him a bouncer which put him in hospital with a broken jaw and several teeth missingI was so mad I didnt go to him but walked back to the start of my runup and sat down I refused to apologise to him unless he apologised to me I still say he asked for it although I rarely enjoyed hurting anyoneThe late Malcolm Marshall revealed in Marshall Arts that an Australian batsman abused his teammate and fellow Bajan Joel Garner on receiving a bouncer in the Kingston Test of Australias 198384 tour to the Caribbean The matter was not pursued by gentle Garner but Marshall said had it been directed to him he would have certainly charged in swiftly and who knows what I would have unleashedDarren Lehmann who exited his position as coach of the Australian team following the 2018 ball tampering controversy in South Africa will forever be known as the man who was in charge of the side when the Australians adopted the winatallcosts culture But his critics will always point to Lehmanns colourful abuse directed to the Sri Lankans after he was run out in a game in 2003 He later termed it as the biggest mistake of his lifeMore recently mdash last year mdash Englands Barbadosborn fast bowler Jofra Archer complained of racial abuse at Mount Maunganui during the 2019 New Zealand tourCricketers of other nations have been attacked by the big sharp sword of racism as well And while the International Cricket Council deal with abusive spectators and players in the most stringent of ways it is important to remember what Mahatma Gandhi said about road blockers of Indias freedom I want to change their mindsThat little man knew something about being targeted for the colour of his skinmiddays group sports editor Clayton Murzello is a purist with an open stanceHe tweets ClaytonMurzelloSend your feedback to mailbagmiddaycomThe views expressed in this column are the individuals and dont represent those of the paper