IND vs AUS: Australia Cricketers To Make ‘Barefoot Circle’ as Anti-Racism Statement Ahead of 1st ODI

Ahead of the one-day international series-opener against India in Sydney on November 27, the Australian cricket team will stand in a circle with bare feet in support of the global anti-racism movement and recognise the country’s indigenous people, fast bowler Pat Cummins said on Monday.

“In Australia, we think the most, I guess, the marginalised group is the first nations people and the indigenous peoples,” Pat Cummins, who is the vice-captain of Australia’s Test and ODI teams, told reporters in a video call.

“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 kind of come together as a team and think this is the best way we can demonstrate anti-racism as well as celebrating the indigenous culture here.”

Earlier in September, ahead of the limited-overs series, the national women’s team of Australia formed a barefoot circle with New Zealand players in Brisbane and now Australian men team are following their lead.

Last month, five indigenous players and eight-team captains in the professional Women’s Big Bash League made the gesture to “connect to country and acknowledge the traditional owners of the land,” governing body Cricket Australia said.

Recently, the Australian national has been accused by many, including the former West Indies bowler and legend Michael Holding for not taking a knee during the limited-overs series in England in September.

At the same time, Cummins accepted that perhaps in past Australia’s players ‘have not done enough’ to end racism and that they would like to rectify that aspect.

“You could 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,” he said.