Black Lives Matter: IPL veteran Dan Christian slams Australian cricket's 'casual racism'

Australian all-rounder Dan Christian recently spoke about the presence of “casual racism” in his nation’s cricket culture. The limited-overs specialist himself is one of the few indigenous cricketers to have represented Australia at the international level. His remarks come on the backdrop of former West Indies captain Darren Sammy’s continuous vocal support for the ‘Black Lives Matter’ movement.

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Black Lives Matter: Dan Christian talks about racism in Australian cricket

Dan Christian recently interacted on Cricket Australia’s Cricket Connecting Country. The 37-year-old said that racism is an issue in Australian cricket. However, he mentioned that there’s more of casual racism in their cricketing culture instead of a direct “in your face” one. Dan Christian revealed that he himself has been subjected to such casual racism, saying there have been some throwaway jokes jibed at him because of the colour of his skin and the fact that he “doesn’t look Aboriginal”.

Ever since the ‘Black Lives Matter’ movement came to the fore, the all-rounder said that he received a lot of apologetic messages from the people he has played with or against. He revealed those messages ranged from ‘Sorry if I’ve ever said anything to you that you’ve been offended by’ to ‘I’d love to know some more about your personal story’. Speaking further about the ‘Black Lives Matter’ movement and the messages he received, Dan Christian said that it has been wonderful to have such a conversation and seeing people willing to make changes.

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Black Lives Matter: Darren Sammy and Ishant Sharma controversy

Darren Sammy had earlier expressed his anguish upon learning the meaning of a racial slur which was subjected to him by Ishant Sharma, back when the two cricketers were teammates for SunRisers Hyderabad in the Indian Premier League (IPL). However, the two-time T20 World Cup-winning captain seems to have moved on from the incident as he recently described Ishant Sharma as his ‘brother’. In a recent interview with the PTI, Darren Sammy said that he holds no grudges against the Indian pacer.

Dan Christian in the IPL

Dan Christian is an IPL veteran who has represented numerous franchises. He made his IPL debut in 2011 for the now-defunct Deccan Chargers and thereon, went on to play for the Royal Challengers Bangalore, the erstwhile Rising Pune Supergiant and Delhi Daredevils (now Delhi Capitals). His last IPL appearance came during the 2018 edition of the tournament.

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Image source: cricket.com.au