London: James Anderson said English cricket must do more to “make the game for everybody”, joining other sportsmen who have spoken out about racism across the globe. Worldwide demonstrations sparked by the police killing of George Floyd in the United States are set to continue this weekend.
There have been suggestions that next month’s Test series between England and the West Indies could see both sides taking a knee as a sign of support for Black Lives Matter.
“It’s been a very thought-provoking few weeks for everyone,” England bowler Anderson told reporters. “It’s made me do a lot of thinking.”
The 37-year-old pointed to the abuse that team-mate Jofra Archer received from a spectator while on England duty last November.
He said: “I wasn’t there in New Zealand when Jofra was racially abused. It made me think and it made me think ‘have I turned a blind eye to things?’ I’d try to support my team-mates if they did suffer any sort of abuse but have I been active in supporting them on things like that?”
Anderson said cricket needed to do more, referring to research by ESPNCricinfo that there is currently just one state-educated black player in English county cricket.
“That’s just not OK,” he said. “So, I think again as a game we need to actively make this game for everyone. It can’t keep going the way it is.”
Anderson missed most of last year’s Ashes with a calf injury and was injured during the second Test of England’s winter tour of South Africa.
