Cricket Australia boss Nick Hockley on Usman Khawaja shoe protest controversy

Cricket Australia has backed its players’ right to express themselves on social issues, but issued a reminder after Usman Khawaja was stopped from protesting in Perth.

Cricket Australia chief Nick Hockley has stressed the importance of players adhering to official processes after Usman Khawaja’s foiled pro-Palestinian shoe stance.

Khawaja has indicated he will continue to push with the ICC in a bid to gain permission to wear the slogans “Freedom is a human right” and “All lives are equal” on his shoes later in the Test series against Pakistan as a humanitarian message related to the ongoing situation in Gaza.

The veteran opener sported shoes with those messages written in Palestinian colours of red, green and black in the nets two days out from the start of the first Test. He aborted his plan to wear the shoes during the Perth Test after it became clear he would not be given the green light from the ICC to do so, but circumvented that prohibition by wearing a black armband instead.

The message Usman Khawaja planned to wear on his shoes. Picture: Paul Kane/Getty Images

Usman Khawaja later spoke out on Instagram.

Hockley has left the door ajar for Khawaja to wear the message on his shoes later in the series but reiterated the need for players to comply with rules.

“We support all our players to express themselves. We’ve got incredible characters in our team, very passionate about a range of things. And it’s important to express that in their own personal capacity and on their own channels,” Hockley told this masthead at Optus Stadium on Friday.

“As it relates to wearing slogans on uniforms, there are very, very clear regulations set forth by the ICC and we expect our players to abide by those regulations.”

The ICC regulations state that: “Players and team officials shall not be permitted to wear, display or otherwise convey personal messages on their clothing, equipment or otherwise, irrespective of whether such messages are affixed to clothing, equipment or otherwise and whether such messages are displayed or conveyed through the use of the specific clothing or other items (e.g. an arm band) or by the use of words, symbol, graphic message, images or otherwise (“Personal Messages”), unless approved in advance by both the player or team official’s board and the ICC cricket operations department. Approval shall not be granted for messages which relate to political, religious or racial activities or causes.”

Khawaja wore a black armband on day one. Picture: Paul Kane/Getty Images

While Hockley says the regulations are clear, the enforcement of them has not been as straightforward.

In 2019, Indian men’s players donned camouflage-style caps in a match against Australia in support of paramilitary police killed in a terror attack.

The decision drew pushback from the Pakistani board at the time.

Khawaja released a video on his social media channels on Wednesday afternoon, questioning the motives of those who had taken offence at his plan, which drew public criticism from several former players and private scorns from some current administrators.

Federal Treasurer Jim Chalmers is among those who have come out in support of Khawaja.

“I don’t think it’s an especially controversial statement,” Chalmers said on Thursday.

“The lives on one side of a conflict are not worth any more or any less than the lives on the other side of the conflict.”