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Michael Holding talks to fellow Sky Sports Michael Atherton ahead of Day 1 of the second test between England and the West Indies at Old Trafford in Manchester on July 16, 2020.
Gareth Copley / Getty Images for ECB)
Cool west indies Michael Holding has criticized England and Australia for choosing not to kneel in support of the campaign to fight racial injustice, accusing them of making “silly” excuses.
Holding, who played for the great West Indian teams of the 1970s and 1980s, recalled in July the nasty incidents he experienced as a young cricketer on visits to Australia and England.
The former paceman spoke about how significant change was needed after George Floyd’s death in police custody in the United States, sparking a wave of protests around the world.
Cricketers from England and the West Indies knelt at the start of each of their three trials in July.
The practice was repeated during England’s one-day international series against Ireland, but not in the next series against Pakistan and Australia.
England and Australia will meet in a three-game ODI series starting at Old Trafford on Friday.
“I’m a little disappointed that since the England-Ireland series, when they knelt down, I haven’t seen either team do it,” Holding said on his YouTube channel.
“Now that the West Indies team has gone home, that doesn’t mean you still don’t have to respect the message and exactly what it stands for.”
Holding accused the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) and Australia’s captain, Aaron Finch, of making “unconvincing” statements about ending the practice at a time when many other sports teams remain committed to it.
Finch said that after raising the matter with England captain Eoin Morgan, his team did not kneel, adding that “education around him is more important than protest.”
But Holding said: “So for Pakistan and England not to take that sign, because you are doing nothing but kneeling, you are not singing anything, you are not saying anything, all you are doing is making a sign to keep consciousness on March.
“Neither team did it and the ECB came out with a pretty poor statement, as far as I’m concerned.”
The ECB, in response to Holding’s comments, said that many teams, both domestically and internationally, had knelt.
“Our renewed inclusion and diversity strategy, published at the beginning of the West Indies series, commits to several comprehensive initiatives that focus on eliminating discrimination in all areas of cricket,” he said.
“England’s male and female players remain committed to using their reach and influence to continue to promote inclusion and diversity in perpetuity, for the betterment of cricket and the sport.”
