Andrew Strauss urges players to soften dressing room’s “macho” banters
Andrew Strauss also opined that the multiplication of T20 franchise leagues around the world has led to the democratization of cricket and not even the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) controls the game anymore.
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Andrew Strauss urges players to soften dressing room's "macho" banters
Former England captain Andrew Strauss has urged the players to soften the dressing room banters to stay away from controversies. Previously, Pakistan-born cricketer Azeem Rafiq, who played for Yorkshire, accused the board and team members of using racist slurs which left him “close to taking his own life.”
Strauss believes that institutional racism in sports has hindered the growth of the sport and that it has not evolved enough to meet the obligations of the modern world. “As we move forward together as a game with players of different genders, races, creeds, and beliefs coming together, so the traditional macho, hierarchical, perhaps at times verging on bullying dressing-room banter will need to be softened to a culture that is more tolerant, understanding, welcoming and embracing of difference,” Strauss said while addressing the audience at the annual MCC Cowdrey Lecture.
Rafiq appeared before the Digital, Culture, Media, and Sport (DCMS) select committee in November 2021 to talk about the racism he faced during his time with Yorkshire. Later, a series of reviews found “institutional racism” in Yorkshire’s cricket, which tarnished the image of England’s cricket.
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Andrew Strauss believes T20 leagues have democratized cricket
Strauss also opined that the multiplication of T20 franchise leagues around the world has led to the democratization of cricket and not even the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) controls the game anymore. He understands that this is confronting and perhaps difficult to hear for some, “I feel like we should be rejoicing in this fact.”
Since the inaugural season of the Indian Premier League (IPL) in 2008, many nations started their own T20 leagues, the likes of the Big Bash League of Australia, Caribbean Premier League of West Indies, Pakistan Super League of Pakistan, Bangladesh’s Bangladesh Premier League, Sri Lanka’s Lanka Premier League, and recently, South Africa’s SA20, International League T20 (UAE). Top players from all over the world go to these leagues to provide their services.
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Gouri Das
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