West Indies cricket great Michael Holding has criticized England’s “moment of unity” gesture in the ongoing second and final Test series against New Zealand in Birmingham.
Joe Root and the England cricket team sported Anti-Discrimination T-Shirts during the “Moment of Unity” before the second and final Test against New Zealand at Edgbaston on Thursday (June 10).
England decided to not take the knee after their home series against West Indies last year but showed their support to the Black people and the fight against racism through the “Moment of Unity” at Edgbaston in the ongoing final Test against New Zealand.
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The England players were seen wearing black T-shirts which have messages against any racism, religious intolerance, sexism, and other anti-discrimination slogans on the back in Birmingham.
However, the England players’ decision to wear black T-shirts didn’t go down well with Holding, saying the move was not supporting Black Lives Matter (BLM) movement at all instead giving the subtle meaning of “all lives matter.”
Holding told Sky Sports: “What this England (cricket) team are doing now with this 'moment of unity', that is not supporting Black Lives Matter. What you are doing there is, when I say, 'black lives matter', you are telling me ‘all lives matter’.”
However, the 67-year-old applauded the England football team for “showing some backbone” by continuing to take the knee to support the BLM movement despite being booed and jeered by some fans for taking a knee in warm-up games ahead of the Euro Championship.
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He said, “The footballers, Gareth Southgate (manager) and the England team, I applaud them for what they're doing. They are getting a lot of stick for taking the knee, they're getting booed, but they are showing some backbone. They are showing some intestinal fortitude. They're saying 'we're doing it because we know what we're doing - not for a political movement, we're doing it for humanitarian reasons'.”
Holding signed off by saying, “I'm never going to talk about any political movement. I care about the three words: Black Lives Matter. (We've got a chance) That is an expression my mother used with me when I was a kid. I see we have a chance because I see movement.”
(With PTI Inputs)
