'Without diversity cricket is nothing': ICC stands against racism
Jun 05, 2020
New Delhi [India], June 5 : The International Cricket Council (ICC) on Friday expressed its solidarity against racism through a short video of the 2019 men's ODI World Cup final, which was won by England and said that "cricket is nothing without diversity".
The cricket's governing body posted a minute and 18-second long video on its official Twitter handle and captioned the post, "Without diversity, cricket is nothing. Without diversity, you don't get the full picture."
The ICC used the excerpt from the World Cup 2019 final, which was decided on the last ball after both 50-over and super-over tied between England and New Zealand at Lord's.
In the video, Jofra Archer can be seen delivering the last ball of the tournament which handed the maiden title to England. Archer is a Barbadian-born who made his debut in May 2019 and got selected for England's World Cup squad.
He impressed the world with his fury pace in quadrennial tournament and the home Ashes.
Earlier, former West Indies skipper Daren Sammy made an appeal to the ICC and other cricket boards to support the fight against social injustice and racism, following the death of an African-American -- George Floyd -- in the United States of America.
Several 'Black Lives Matter' protests are taking place throughout the US after a police officer, identified as Derek Chauvin, pressed his knee into Floyd's neck, leading to the latter's death.
West Indies opening batsman Chris Gayle had said that "racism exists in cricket too and it is not just restricted to football."
Cricket West Indies (CWI) had also released a statement of its own on racism saying "sport has the power to change the world".
"We, therefore, support all sporting icons and role models who are today leading the way in peacefully protesting and standing against the scourge of racism and injustice. CWI believes that with sportsmen and women standing together, the sport has the power to change the world, it has the power to inspire and unite people in a way that little else can," the statement read.
