Australian opener Usman Khawaja forced to remove banned dove logo from bat
Australian opener Usman Khawaja was forced to remove a banned symbol from his bat after requesting a bat replacement in Wellington.
Australian opener Usman Khawaja was forced to remove a dove sticker from his bat after requesting a replacement on day three of the series opener against New Zealand in Wellington.
On Saturday morning, the 37-year-old cracked his bat during Australia’s second innings at the Basin Reserve, with substitute fielder Matthew Renshaw running on a replacement.
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However, Khawaja needed to peel off a human rights sticker of a dove holding an olive branch from the new bat - on the field - before resuming his innings.
During the recent home summer, the ICC rejected Khawaja’s request to wear the dove holding an olive branch, which raises awareness for the humanitarian crisis in Gaza, during international matches because the organisation deemed it a “political protest”.
The Queenslander has continued using the sticker while training in the nets.
“The symbol of the dove is an universally recognised symbol of peace,” Cricket Australia chief executive Nick Hockley explained in December.
“That being said, the ICC have got their rules and think they explained their rationale really clearly and we respect that.
“What we’ve been really clear about is that we support Uzzie and all our players really to share what the what they believe over their own channels.”
Ahead of this summer’s Boxing Day Test against Pakistan, Khawaja called out the ICC for “double standards”, posting images of teammate Marnus Labuschagne with bible verses on his bat.
A few weeks earlier, the left-hander was prevented from wearing shoes donning the message “all lives are equal” and “freedom is a human right” during the Perth Test against Pakistan. He was also censured by the ICC for wearing a black armband during the match.
“I don’t know the ins and outs of the application, but I think it is pretty vanilla, a dove,” Australian captain Pat Cummins said earlier this summer.
“We really support Uzzy, I think he’s standing up for what he believes and I think he’s doing it really respectfully. All lives are equal and I don’t think that’s very offensive, and I’d say the same about the dove.
“That’s Uzzy. He can hold his head high the way he’s gone about it, but there’s rules in place, so I believe the ICC have said they’re not going to approve that. They make up the rules and you’ve got to accept it.”
Later in the morning session at the Basin Reserve, Khawaja suffered a brain fade while facing part-time spinner Glenn Phillips, suckered into charging down the pitch and stumped by Black Caps wicketkeeper Tom Blundell for 28.
Originally published as Australian opener Usman Khawaja forced to remove banned dove logo from bat
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