Former Zimbabwe cricketer-turned-commentator Pommie Mbangwa put out a strong message during commentary after Quinton de Kock withdrew his name from the T20 World Cup game between South Africa and West Indies citing personal reasons.
On Monday (October 25), Cricket South Africa issued a directive asking the Proteas team to adopt a consistent and united stance against racism by taking the knee prior to the start of their remaining World Cup matches.
A day later, De Kock opted out of the game instead of following the instruction, supporting the 'Black Lives Matter' movement.
At the start of the match, the official reason for De Kock’s withdrawal was not yet known. During the commentary, however, Mbangwa cleared the air and he was joined by co-commentator and former West Indies skipper Daren Sammy, who is a vocal supporter of the BLM movement.
Here is the full excerpt of the commentary:
Daren Sammy: “My mother used to always say that you got to stand for something or you will fall for anything. It is good to see the players united in something that has an effect on so many people across the world. That will be a conversation in this World Cup.”
Pommie Mbangwa: “I dare say Darren that cricket will take a back seat and it’s a big statement for me to make in a cricket World Cup where absolutely everybody would like to play in. I would say as the team concerned is South Africa who have a history of exclusion and racism. And for this as an issue to still be here is, huge.”
“This South African statement reads that there are concerns raised over the different postures taken by team members in support of the BLM initiative created an unintended perception of disparity or lack of support for the initiative which essentially says lack of support for people of colour within the side, the South Africa side, within the country South Africa, in the world as a whole.”
“Excuse me for being political because some will say it is being political but I cannot shed my skin. I hope, I hope that the discussion at the very least can be about how to be united, about something that everybody agrees on. This is also in the hope that there is an agreement in that regard.”
Daren Sammy: “Yeah, sometimes I don’t understand why is it so difficult to support this movement if you understand what it stands for. That’s just my opinion. What my kind have been through. There are other issues affecting the world but I don’t understand why it’s so difficult.”
Pommie Mbangwa: “I’ll say this with regard to Quinton de Kock that freedom of choice is fair enough. I don’t want to speculate on what the personal reasons exactly are because I haven’t got those but I hope that discussion can actually be had. Thank you for letting me have my say. I’ll move on.”
Later, CSA released a statement and revealed that Quinton de Kock pulled out of the game over taking the knee. The board will await a further report from team management before deciding on the next steps.
