1 month ago
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Australia’s Usman Khawaja, who was dismissed for 47 on Wednesday’s opening day of the Test match against the West Indies, is at the centre of what’s being described as an off the field distraction for the team.
Khawaja refused an interview with Australian sports radio station SEN after the first day’s play, in protest over the decision by the station to fire journalist Peter Lalor four months ago due to his outspoken support of Palestinians.
Khawaja too has been vocal in protesting the deaths of tens of thousands of Gazan civilians during Israel’s 21-month military assault on the territory, after a Hamas-led attack on southern Israel that killed about 1,200 people and took 250 hostages on 7 October 2023.
In late 2023 Khawaja clashed with cricket’s international governing body over his wishes to display messages or symbols of peace on his playing equipment during a Test. The ICC ruled that such displays would be “political” despite their vagueness and general applicability.
After years as part of SEN’s cricket commentary team, Lalor’s freelance job was cancelled while on a tour of Sri Lanka in February, during a Test in which Khawaja had made his highest career score of 232.
SEN supremo Craig Hutchison claimed Lalor’s practice of posting pro-Palestinian messages on social media was distressing to Jewish Australians. “I have friends who are frightened and have heard the fear in their voices during conversations. It is an awful situation. But so is Gaza,” wrote Lalor in a public response after being dismissed.
This was the first time that Khawaja had been asked to speak to SEN since the sacking, having scored an important 47 during a poor day for Australia’s batting.
After initially approaching broadcasters Bharat Sundaresan and Adam Collins on the field of play at the direction of team media manager Cole Hitchcock, Khawaja then noticed the SEN branding on the microphone, and raised a hand to the commentators before walking away.
English (US) ·