Australian batter Usman Khawaja’s decision to wear certain slogans on his shoes in training ahead of the first Test against Pakistan triggered a storm on social media. Khawaja’s shoes read the message “Freedom is a human right” and “All lives are equal”. The top-order batter is said to have had plans to wear the message on his shoes in the first Test against Pakistan in Perth but the had to be quashed after Cricket Australia cited ‘ICC rules’ on the matter.
Cricket Australia, in a statement, said: “We support the right of our players to express personal opinions. But the ICC has rules in place which prohibit the display of personal messages which we expect the players to uphold.”
Australia Test skipper Pat Cummins was also asked about the topic, which is when he revealed that the batter has quashed the idea of wearing those boots on Day 1 of the Perth Test.
“He had some words on his shoes. I think it’s one of our strongest points of our team that everyone has his own personal views and thoughts,” he told reporters.
“I chatted to Ussie about it briefly today. I don’t think his intention was to make too big of a fuss, but we support him.
“He said he won’t be (wearing them).
Cummins said that the change in Khawaja’s plan seems to have come after he was informed about the ICC rules.
“I think it drew the attention to the ICC rules … which I don’t know if he was across them beforehand.
“I think he had “all lives are equal”. I don’t think that’s very divisive. I don’t think anyone can have too many complaints about that.”
“All lives are equal. I support that.”
As per the ICC rules, “Any clothing or equipment that does not comply with these regulations is strictly prohibited,” the regulations state. “In particular, no logo shall be permitted to be displayed on cricket clothing or cricket equipment, other than a national logo, a commercial logo, an event logo, a manufacturer’s logo, a player’s bat logo, a charity logo or a non-commercial logo as provided in these regulations.
