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Usman Khawaja reveals he didn’t support Australia growing up in Sydney, and the subconscious RACIAL bias that ‘hasn’t changed’ in cricket
- Usman Khawaja has opened up about the racial bias that exists in Australian cricket
- Khawaja, 36, became the first player of the Muslim religion to wear loose-fitting green in 2011.
- He believes that the color of his skin has worked against him in his cricketing career.
Usman Khawaja has revealed that he did not support the Australian cricket team growing up in Sydney, and the nation’s first Muslim faith player also confirmed a long-standing racial prejudice he has been forced to put up with.
In Khawaja’s eyes, he hasn’t changed in the sport.
Talking with him Sydney Morning Heralda candid Khawaja, 36, pointed out the lack of representation at the elite level in Australia for players of colour.
“That’s where I’m trying to work with Cricket Australia by saying, ‘Look guys, you’re putting a lot of money into this, but something’s not right,” said the Pakistani-born Khawaja.
You’ve been doing it for 10 years and nothing has changed.
There is a subconscious bias. If you have two cricketers, one brown and one white, both the same, the white manager will pick the white cricketer. It’s what looks familiar.
Usman Khawaja has opened up about a long-standing racial prejudice he was forced to endure as a colored cricketer in Australia in his eyes.
Jason Sangha has long been considered a prodigy and was named captain of the Sydney Thunder this summer before going down with an injury.
Khawaja is also mystified when he meets up-and-coming players of color in Australia at training clinics.
Many young people are quick to tell you that they were born and raised on the local shores, but they won’t root for Pat Cummins’ team.
Last month, ‘Ussie’ revealed on Twitter how he was often stopped by overzealous security to check his credentials, despite being dressed in the team’s official uniform.
“I was stopped three times last year at our hotel while wearing the Australian team and asked if I was with the Australian cricket team…” Khawaja wrote.
Khawaja made his Test debut in 2011 but has been in and out of the team ever since.
He showed his class in the recent third Test at the SCG, plundering an unbeaten 195 against South Africa.
Ollie Davies is a rising star with the Sydney Thunder who is being courted by the West Indies.
Khawaja strongly believes that he should have played a lot more Test cricket throughout his career, and that has left him ‘with a chip on his shoulder’.
Once Randwick Petersham’s junior retires, the likes of Jason Sangha and Ollie Davies could find their way into the Australian XI.
Sangha has long been considered a prodigy and was named captain of the Sydney Thunder this summer before picking up an injury at the start of the Big Bash.
Davies, from Sydney’s northern beaches, is an elite talent at 22, with the West Indies already close behind.
His younger brother Joel could end up being a better player.
The trio of rising stars is colored and, like Khawaja, he is determined to forge his own path in the sport.
Time will tell if they can emulate the accredited pilot, who grew up in western Sydney before making a name for himself with Randy Petes at Sydney grade level.
NSW soon came calling, and the rest, namely Khawaja’s career, especially in recent years in the fold, speaks for itself.