The West Indies cricket team will be sporting a "Black Lives Matter" logo on their t-shirts throughout the upcoming test series against England in a bid to protest against racism in sports, the team management announced on Monday. The logo will be placed on the collars of the shirts of the players. West Indies face England in a three-match test series beginning July 8 at the Ageas Bowl.
The decision follows the death of George Floyd, an African-American, who was killed in police custody after a white police officer knelt on him chocking him to death last month in Minneapolis. West Indies captain Jason Holder has since then supported the cause and aggressively called for end to racism in sports.
West Indies Takes a Stand
The decision by the West Indies team to sport the "Black Lives Matter" emblem was taken on Monday after Holder said racism should be treated on par with doping and corruption in sports. The team has also been granted permission by the International Cricket Council (ICC) to sport the logo.
"We did not take our decision lightly. We know what it is for people to make judgments because of the color of our skin, so we know what it feels like, this goes beyond the boundary. There must be equality and there must be unity. Until we get that as people, we cannot stop," said Holder. West Indies is expected to sport the logo for the first time in a four-day practice match at Old Trafford.
The logo is the same that is being used by all 20 Premier League football clubs since the revival of the sports earlier this month. The logo has been designed by Alisha Hosannah, whose partner Troy Deeney is the captain of Watford. It was Deeney who gave permission to the West Indies team to use the logo during the England series.
England Against Racism
Not only the West Indies but hosts England too are likely to show their support to the Black Lives Matter movement within the squad. The England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) have announced that the series will be named #RaiseTheBat test series in a bid to honor heroic cricketing workers.
Besides Holder, other West Indies players too have been quite vocal about racism existing in the sport. Recently, former West Indies T-20 captain Darren Sammy alleged that he faced racism while playing for Sunrisers Hyderabad in the Indian Premier League. Sammy said his team members called him "kalu". Kalu means black but Sammy said he did not know then what the word meant.
