The aftermath of the death of George Floyd in America has seen former West Indies captains Darren Sammy and Chris Gayle opened up on the racist abuses they faced in their cricketing days.
Now West Indies Test captain Jason Holder has said that players found guilty of racism should be treated at par with match-fixers and dopers.
“I don’t think the penalty for doping or corruption should be any different for racism,” Holder told BBC Sport.
“If we’ve got issues within our sport, we must deal with them equally.”
Many observers and experts are of the opinion that despite the International Cricket Council (ICC) anti-racism code penalising repeated on-pitch racist abuses with life ban, abusers are rarely punished to the extent.
Under the ICC policy, the first instance usually attracts between four and eight suspension points, which are equivalent to a ban of two One-day Internationals (ODIs).
Last year, former Pakistan captain Sarfaraz Ahmed was banned for four limited over international matches for his racist remark against South African all-rounder Andile Phehlukwayo.
The world no.1 Test all-rounder, Jason Holder highlighted the experiences of England’s Jofra Archer and Moeen Ali, both of whom have been targets of racist remarks from crowds.
Holder proposes compulsory anti-racism briefings
The Windies captain, who will lead his team against England on July 8 at Ageas bowl in Southampton, recommended that teams should be reminded about racism, like the doping and corruption, at the start of series.
“In addition to having anti-doping briefings and anti-corruption briefings, maybe we should have an anti-racism feature before we start a series,” Holder said.
“My message is more education needs to go around it. I’ve not experience any racial abuse first hand but have heard or seen a few things around it. It’s something you just can’t stand for.”
The West Indies Test team is currently preparing in bio-secure environment in England and will defend the Wisden Trophy in three Tests starting July 8.
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