Making sure Black Lives Matter in cricket
The death of the great West Indian cricketer Sir Everton Weekes recently was a powerful reminder of the history of issues around race and cricket. When Weekes played as part of the three Ws in the West Indies Test side of the 1950s the permanent captain was always white, although never the match of Weekes, Walcott and Worrell. That changed with Sir Frank Worrell being appointed captain in 1961 after a considerable campaign led by CLR James:
Moving to the present day a great worldwide movement has arisen against racism and injustice following the police killing of George Floyd.
Its impact has been felt in sport and at the start of the First Test between England and the West Indies all players and officials took the knee, the symbol of solidarity. This was underlined by powerful statements by Michael Holding, Ebony Rainford Brent and others.
I was impressed, and tbh I rarely am, by Tom Harrison, CEO of England and Wales Cricket when he spoke to Jonathan Agnew on Test Match Special. He was clear that there was a need to address issues of racism and inequality in cricket and that Black Lives Matter had been the motor for this.
As a trade union officer in the private sector I’ve also been impressed by statements from some major employers on BLM and commitments to address issues in injustice and inequality (albeit long pressed for).
Fine words and action plans are one thing but making them happen is another matter. They need to be worked through and monitored in detail. In that respect its good to see the Guardian report that Ebony Rainford Brent is to meet Tom Harrison with the aim of making sure words lead to action.
This is work in long overdue progress.
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