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Players from the Black Caps and West Indies knelt in support of the Black Lives Matter movement ahead of the start of the first of three Twenty20 international matches in Auckland on Friday night.
At the series’ lunchtime launch on game day, New Zealand captain Tim Southee revealed that his side would show support for the anti-racism movement before the start of the series at Eden Park, their first game. since March.
A little after 7pm, they did just that. After a countdown from 10 and the referee’s instruction to play, the referees and the players and staff of both teams knelt, some of them also raised their fists and the crowd responded with applause.
Phil Walter / Getty Images
Tim Seifert and Ross Taylor of New Zealand kneel in support of Black Lives Matter ahead of the first Twenty20 against the West Indies.
As noted Wednesday, Southee confirmed that the Black Caps had met with West Indies coach Phil Simmons and manager Rawl Lewis to discuss what action the teams would take together.
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“We agreed that we will support the West Indies and kneel down after the umpires decide to play,” Southee said.
“It’s something that is obviously close to the West Indies side of cricket and something that we are happy to support along with our own booth with the Give Nothing To Racism booth. So I think the two go well together. “
That Give Nothing To Racism campaign is an initiative of the Human Rights Commission and NZ Cricket’s support will include messages related to its display at match venues this summer.
The fact that the West Indies knelt is a continuation of their actions from their tour of England in July, when both teams did, and alongside Southee at the series launch, T20I captain Kieron Pollard said that it was something his team wanted to keep pushing.
“It’s something that worries us a lot,” Pollard said. “And it’s something we want to try to incorporate around the world as well, because it has impacted many lives around the world.
“It means a lot to us as individuals, and we will continue to prove ourselves, and at some point, hopefully, at some point everyone will come to understand the seriousness of this matter.
“We will continue to make gestures and do things that are going to be positively oriented. So we have joined the Black Caps, we thank them for their support and we will also reciprocate, and we will have a good series. “
Phil Walter / Getty Images
Andre Fletcher of the West Indies on one knee to acknowledge Black Lives Matter before the first Twenty20 against the West Indies.
As they also did in England, the West Indies will wear a Black Lives Matter logo on their game jerseys, on the sleeve of the T20Is and then on the collar during both test matches.
Southee said the Black Caps would re-evaluate the decision to kneel before next month’s test series, with different players joining the team and participating in discussions, along with subsequent tours of Pakistan, Australia and Bangladesh.
“At the moment it is series by series,” he said.
“It is something that is ongoing, the West Indies is the first tour, so that has been our focus at the moment, then there will be talks as the summer progresses.”
