Chris Gayle speaks out against racism in cricket

Former West Indies captain Chris Gayle opened up on racism in the world of cricket in an Instagram story that he posted on Monday. Chris Gayle went on to suggest that he has faced racism while travelling across the world playing the game, sometimes from his own teammates too.

“Black lives matter just like any other life. Black people matter, p***k all racist people, stop taking black people for fools, even our own black people wise the p***k up and stop bringing down your own,” Chris Gayle mentioned in his Instagram story.

“I have travelled the globe and experience racial remarks towards me because I am black, believe me, the list goes on!! Racism is not only in football, it’s in cricket too. Even within teams as a black man, I get the end of the stick. Black and powerful. Black and proud,” Chris Gayle added.

Chris Gayle posted an Instagram story speaking out against racism in the world today

Chris Gayle on Racism. The left-handed batsman says racism is just not just restricted to football, it is there in cricket too. Gayle says he himself has faced racial remarks being hurled at him. @henrygayle @CricSubhayan #GeorgeFloydProtests #USRIOTS pic.twitter.com/xx12BojfM2

— Vishesh (@vroy38) June 1, 2020

Chris Gayle's comments follow widespread protests against racism

The comments from Chris Gayle come after widespread protests broke out in the United States of America over the death of an African-American citizen, George Floyd. Floyd was killed after a police officer knelt on his neck for around 9 minutes.

While racism has not been more dominant in other sports, cricket has seen its own sets of incidents. The likes of Hashim Amla and Moeen Ali have been discriminated against on the pitch in the past, while Andrew Symonds has been racially abused.

The most recent known incident of racism in international cricket came during England’s tour of New Zealand late last year when Jofra Archer was racially abused by a member of the audience.

Chris Gayle is not the only cricketer to speak out against racism in the wake of the recent protests. His former international teammate Darren Sammy also urged the ICC and various cricket boards to speak out against the social injustice faced by people of colour.

. @ICC and all the other boards are you guys not seeing what’s happening to ppl like me? Are you not gonna speak against the social injustice against my kind. This is not only about America. This happens everyday #BlackLivesMatter now is not the time to be silent. I wanna hear u

— Daren Sammy (@darensammy88) June 2, 2020

Chris Gayle last played competitive cricket for the Chattogram Challengers in the Bangladesh Premier League in January this year. With the COVID-19 pandemic bringing cricket across the world to a halt, there’s no saying when we’ll see him playing the sport again.