Australian skipper Pat Cummins confirmed that veteran Australian opener Usman Khawaja will not wear shoes with inscriptions about the fate of Palestinians caught up in the battle in Gaza in Thursday’s opening Test against Pakistan.
If the opening batsman had worn the shoes he practiced on Tuesday, he could have been barred from playing in the match against Pakistan. The International Cricket Council clothing standards allow the match referee, to restrict a player from participating in a match if they are wearing clothes with a non-compliant emblem or language.
Speaking at the pre-match press conference, Pat Cummins admitted that every individual has their own opinions and revealed that he spoke with Khawaja about the matter and stated that the Australian opener does not want to make a big fuss, adding that he would not wear the shoes carrying slogans regarding Palestine-Israel issues against Pakistan.
“I think it is one of our strongest points as a team that everyone has their own passionate views and individual thoughts, I chatted to Uzzy briefly about it today, and yeah, I don’t think his intention is to make too much of a fuss, but we support him”.
“[The ICC] drew attention to the ICC rules, which I don’t know if Uzzy was across beforehand. Uzzy doesn’t want to make too big a fuss.
“On his shoes, he had ‘all lives are equal’ [written on them], I think that’s not very divisive, I don’t think anyone could really have too many complaints about that,” Pat Cummins said.
Khawaja donned the shoes with the words “Freedom is a human right” and “All lives are equal” during Australia’s training session on Tuesday, and initially confirmed to this masthead that he planned to wear them on Thursday, the first day of the first Test against Pakistan.
ICC prohibits players from displaying any political or religious messages on their gear or clothing. This rule applies to all member boards, including domestic matches. Violation of these rules can result in penalties, even in domestic matches.
“Any clothing or equipment that does not comply with these regulations is strictly prohibited. In particular, no logo shall be permitted to be displayed on cricket clothing or cricket equipment, other than a national logo, a commercial logo, an event logo, a manufacturer’s logo, a player’s bat logo, a charity logo, or a non-commercial logo as provided in these regulations.
“In addition, where any match official becomes aware of any clothing or equipment that does not comply with these regulations, he shall be authorised to prevent the offending person from taking the field of play (or to order them from the field of play, if appropriate) until the non-compliant clothing or equipment is removed or appropriately covered up,” ICC statement reads.
It looks like Usman Khawaja has been strongly impacted by the heartbreaking sights emanating from Gaza since Israel responded to Hamas strikes on October 7. On Saturday, he resorted to Instagram to express his concerns over the war.
