SYDNEY, Sept 11, 2020 (BSS/AFP) – An irate Cricket Australia has slammed
online trolls as “uneducated” after all-rounder Dan Christian was targeted
for speaking up about “casual racism” in the sport.
Christian, one of just six indigenous people to play for Australia at
international level, took part in a panel discussion this week, “Cricket
Connecting Country”, commissioned by the governing body.
Christian told the panel, whose purpose was to encourage more Aboriginal
people to play cricket and address issues like racism, that he had
experienced the problem first-hand.
“I don’t think it’s as in-your-face as you might see elsewhere around the
world or even elsewhere in Australian culture, but it’s definitely there,”
said the 37-year-old. “It’s more of a casual racism.”
His comments saw two Twitter users question his Aboriginality based on his
appearance, with one saying: “How can someone who looks white be
discriminated against?”
CA tweeted late Thursday that it was “deeply disappointed to see blatantly
racist and uneducated comments”.
“Whilst we have chosen not to name the publisher of these comments
publicly, we want to strongly reinforce that any form of racism or
discrimination has no place in cricket, sport or wider society,” it added.
“Comments like these demonstrate just how far we still have to go.”
Christian, who played 19 one-dayers and 16 Twenty20 internationals for
Australia, told the panel that comments about his skin colour was one of the
issues that hurt most.
“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,” he said.
“That’s the most noticeable thing for me.”
Christian added that in his 15 years in the game, he had never seen any
training around cross-cultural awareness from any cricket organisation.
“That’s one thing we could at least do to raise some awareness and educate
people within our sport,” said Christian, who has played for the likes of
Hampshire and Middlesex in England and several franchises in the Indian
Premier League.