Cricket Australia chairman Mike Baird has given full licence to players speaking their mind on political and social issues.
Australian cricketers have been criticised by conservative commentators for being “too woke” for having a voice on issues like climate change and racism in society, and have been told to “stick to cricket”.
Captain Pat Cummins spearheaded a campaign last year called Cricket for Climate, with fellow men’s and women’s stars such as Steve Smith, David Warner, Mitchell Starc, Marnus Labuschagne, Rachael Haynes and Alyssa Healy supporting it.
Baird, who was appointed CA chair in December, backed in Australia’s players to talk about causes they were passionate about.
“For me, these players have every right to be themselves,” the former Liberal NSW premier told SEN Cricket.
“That’s how you connect into people and communities and people want to come and watch.
‘Let them be them’
“Winning and being yourself I think right to be themselves
“There’s younger generations that are coming through and they look to leaders, not necessarily political leaders, sports leaders.
“And if a sports leader is passionate and wants to express him or herself so they should.
“Let them be them and I think that helps playing the game as well.”
Baird said the team was rocked by a controversial opinion piece published in News Corp outlets after the second Test defeat in Delhi that claimed “Cricket Australia and captain Pat Cummins seem susceptible to political correctness”.
“With a self-serving players’ collective now in control, evidence from Delhi suggests that standards and discipline have slipped since (former coach Justin) Langer departed,” the columnist asserted.
After losing the opening two Tests of the Border-Gavaskar series, Australia hit back in stunning style in Indore last week to secure a famous nine-wicket win against India.
“I saw that op-ed,” Baird said. “There was a pile-on, wasn’t there?”
‘Forget the culture wars’
“Forget about the culture wars, this team wasn’t playing well for all types of reasons.
“But what a remarkable result that third Test was and under that sort of pressure.”
Baird also expressed his condolences to Cummins, who is grieving the death of his mother Maria.
Cummins returned home to in Sydney after the second Test when his mother’s condition deteriorated and she was placed into palliative care.
“We all admire Pat for who he is as a cricketer but to kind of role model being there with his mum for those last moments is reminding all of us what’s really important,” Baird said.
-AAP
