Dan Christian, the former Australian all-rounder gave his opinion on racism and said that racism in Australian cricket is very much prevalent in the nation’s cricket culture.
Dan Christian debuted in 2010 in T20I and in 2012 in one-dayers for Australia and played his last matches in the first half of 2014. In February 2010, he made his Twenty20 International debut against the West Indies and was a member of Australia’s squad for the 2010 ICC World Twenty20.
Daniel Christian
Dan Christian Says Racism In Cricket Australia Exists In Casual Form
Dan Christian, who has played 19 ODIs and 16 T20Is and is only one of the six indigenous players to have featured at the international level for the country, said that racism in Cricket Australia exists in ‘casual form.’
“I think (racism) is an issue in Australian cricket,” Christian said on Cricket Australia‘s Cricket Connecting Country. I don’t think it’s in your face as you might see elsewhere around the world or even elsewhere in Australian culture, but it’s definitely there,” the all-rounder said.
Daniel Christian,RPS
“It’s more of a casual racism. Little throwaway lines here and there that are made to be jokes. And a lot of that, for me personally, has been around the colour of my skin and the fact I don’t look Aboriginal, whatever that means. That’s the most noticeable thing for me,” he added.
He added that while awareness and education are important, it is equally important to call racism out in public.
“We just need to educate ourselves and encourage others around us to educate themselves. And part of that education is calling it out and having the guts to call it out.”
Dan Christian played 19 ODIs and 16 T20Is where he took 20 and 11 wickets averaging less than 30. He also played for Deccan Chargers in 2011-2012, Royal Challengers Bangalore in 2013, defunct Rising Pune Supergiants in 2017, and Delhi Daredevils in 2018.
Dan Christian Received Messages Where Apology Was Sought After Black Lives Matter Movement
After the ‘Black Lives Matter’ came to the fore, Dan Christian himself received a lot of messages which included several apologies from his teammates and contemporaries.
“I’ve received a lot of messages in the past few months from people I’ve played with and against that have said ‘sorry if I’ve ever said anything to you that you’ve been offended by’,” he said.
daniel christian
“So from that perspective, I think it’s been a wonderful thing to have happened, to be able to have that conversation and for people to want to make change.”
Jason Gillespie is the only one to play Test cricket for Australia and there are about 9 cricketers including women who are Indigenous. Indigenous Australians are people with familial heritage to groups that lived in Australia before British colonization. They include the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples of Australia.
