Refusal of England and Australia Cricketers to Take a Knee Draws Fire

The decision by cricketers representing Australia and England not to take a knee before commencing their latest series has been called “lame” by a former West Indies player.

The two traditional foes are facing each other in a three-match series starting at Old Trafford on Friday and have decided to concentrate on the task at hand rather than follow the sporting precepts of protest as demanded by Black Lives Matter supporters.

West Indies great Michael Holding has criticised both teams for the decision, AFP reports, attacking the Australian captain’s claim “education is more important than the protest.”

“I’m a little bit disappointed that since the England-Ireland series, when they did take a knee, I haven’t seen any of the teams take a knee,” Holding said on his YouTube channel.

“Now that the West Indies team has gone home, that doesn’t mean that you still shouldn’t be respecting the message and exactly what it stands for.”

Holding accused the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) and Australia captain Aaron Finch of making “lame” statements over ending the practice at a time when other sports teams, especially in the U.S., remain committed to the protest.

ESPN

Finch said after raising the matter with England skipper Eoin Morgan, his team would not take the knee, adding “the education around it is more important than the protest”.

But Holding said: “So for Pakistan and England not to then take that signal — because you are not doing anything other than going down on one knee — you are not chanting anything, you are not saying anything, all you are doing is making a signal to keep the awareness going.

“Neither team did it and the ECB came out with a pretty lame statement, as far as I am concerned.”

As Breitbart News reported, the issue of sporting activism is a major driver of debate in the U.S. with a Gallup poll this week finding the favorability rating for sports has crashed a whopping 30 points among Republicans and Independents, amid a surge in social justice protests on the field.

Gallup released its latest polling result on Tuesday revealing a major warning sign to the sports industry.

Overall, the number of people who have a favorable view of the sports industry has plummeted from plus 20 last year to minus ten this year, a fall of 30 percentage points.

Follow Simon Kent on Twitter: Follow @SunSimonKent or e-mail to: skent@breitbart.com