Jason Holder wants racism, doping and match-fixing to attract equal penalty
Premier West Indies all-rounder Jason Holder believes that racism should be perceived as a criminal act and the punishment should be at par with some of the most significant offences in the sport such as doping and match-fixing.
“I don’t think the penalty for doping or corruption should be any different for racism,” Jason Holder told BBC Sport. “If we’ve got issues within our sport, we must deal with them equally.”
According to the current ICC rules, a player can be banned for life for on-pitch racist abuse if he breaches the anti-racism code three times. A first offence results in four to eight suspension points. Two suspension points amount to a ban for one Test or two one-day internationals or two T20 international matches.
In international cricket, there have been a few instances where players have been penalised for racism. Last year, Sarfaraz Ahmed, who was the captain of the Pakistan team then, was banned for four matches after he made a racist remark aimed at South Africa all-rounder Andile Phehlukwayo.
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Jason Holder believes players should receive anti-racism briefings before a series
Jason Holder also called for anti-racism briefings in addition to the anti-doping and anti-corruption briefings that the players receive.
"In addition to having anti-doping briefings and anti-corruption briefings, maybe we should have an anti-racism feature before we start a series," Jason Holder said. "My message is more education needs to go around it. I've not experienced any racial abuse first hand but have heard or seen a few things around it. It's something you just can't stand for."
With all cricketing action coming to a halt due to the COVID-19 pandemic, many cricketers are reminiscing about their past matches, their career highs as well as exposing all the wrong elements in the system. Daren Sammy recently recalled, rather bitterly, how he was tagged as "Kaluu" by some of his teammates at Sunrisers Hyderabad.
This revelation has come in the wake of global protests over the death of 46-year-old George Floyd, an African-American. He was left gasping for breath after a white police officer pressed his knee on the handcuffed man’s neck in the USA, obviously as a misplaced affirmation of white supremacy, triggering global protests.
Holder is all set to lead the West Indies in their three-match Test series against England, which will mark the return of international cricket after a forced hiatus. The England team, along with the West Indies team are expected to do their bit in supporting the 'Black Lives Matter' movement.