Australia 'haven't done enough' to fight against racism - Pat Cummins
Australia bowler Pat Cummins believes that his team haven't done enough to address racism, and they will look to correct that in the future, starting by forming a barefoot circle before every series they play, as an acknowledgement to Aboriginal Australia.
The barefoot circle has been a statement adopted by a number of Australian teams over recent weeks, including the Australia Women's Team, the Women's Big Bash League sides and the Sheffield Shield states.
Pat Cummins said that the team felt that the barefoot circle would be the best way for the team to address the problem of racism, both in Australia and away from home.
"We've decided to do the Barefoot Circle. We're going to look at doing it at the start of each series and it's a pretty easy decision for us. As soon as you try and learn a little bit about it, it just becomes a really easy decision. Not only as a sport, but we as people are absolutely against racism. We can probably put our hands up and say we haven't done enough in the past and we want to get better, so this is one small thing we're going to introduce this summer."
Australia will wear indigenous jersey to celebrate the country's first people
The Australian vice-captain added that the team had a strong desire to recognise and acknowledge Aboriginal Australia, and that they will continue to look to educate themselves about the history of the country.
The Aussies will also wear an indigenous shirt for the upcoming three-match T20I series against India to celebrate the country's first people.
"I think the most obvious one was in Australia; we think the most marginalised group is the First Nations people and Indigenous peoples, and we think the Barefoot Circle's a great way to celebrate them. Some people might want to take the knee, some people might want to show it in different ways, and absolutely we're all for that, but we've come together as a team and think this is the best way we can demonstrate anti-racism as well as celebrating Indigenous culture here."
The decision of the Australia team comes after they were criticised, along with England, by West Indies legend Michael Holding for not taking a knee during their limited-overs series in September.
The West Indies and England cricketers did take a knee as a demonstration against racism before their series, but there was no official statement against racism in the 2020 IPL either.