Gillespie says Khawaja golf scrutiny wasn’t racial
Scott Bailey |
Jason Gillespie has rejected Usman Khawaja’s claim that criticism of the veteran’s Ashes preparations was racial stereotyping, insistent the scrutiny was merely part of professional sport.
Khawaja used his retirement announcement on Friday to hit out at several issues, while declaring he wants life to be easier for “the next Usman Khawaja”.
In a powerful 50-minute press conference, Khawaja highlighted the challenges he faced as Australia’s first Pakistani-born Test cricketer and only Muslim to date.
He also explained the challenges of attempting to fit in, and questioned whether 50-50 calls had gone against him because his name was not “John Smith”.
But in doing so he also made a point to rally against the criticism of him playing golf in the lead-up to the Perth Test, before suffering back spasms on the field the next day.
Khawaja has insisted the injury was not related, with it taking him off the field for periods in Perth before he missed the second Test against England in Brisbane.
Speaking on Friday, he labelled that “five days” of scrutiny of his preparation as “very personal”, while believing it played into racial stereotypes that he was “selfish”, “lazy” and “doesn’t train hard enough”.
The 87-Test veteran believed part of the reason he was “nailed” was because he spoke out on political and race issues, urging people not to “gaslight him” on the matter.
He also claimed there were instances of other Australian cricketers being injured playing golf or after drinking “15 schooners” the night before, who were not criticised as much.
Gillespie became Australia’s first Indigenous Test player when he debuted in 1996, and coached Pakistan in 2024.
“I’m not questioning the racism that Usman has faced throughout his life,” Gillespie told ABC Sport.
“I’ve actually always admired him and applauded him for speaking up because racism is a big stain on our society, and it always needs to be called out.
“He referenced racism when he was talking about criticism that he received.
“A few former players came out and quite rightly questioned whether (playing golf) was the best possible preparation.
“Being questioned over that and being held to account over your choices, that’s not bullying, it’s not abuse, that’s all part and parcel of being a professional.
“You can’t really throw a temper tantrum when asked to take accountability for the job you’re actually paid to do.”
Gillespie believed the criticism was in line with other commentary through the series.
“I think the media in this space have been very consistent throughout this Ashes series,” he said.
“They’ve consistently questioned the preparation of the England side. I don’t see how that’s been any different.
“Usman also referenced that he’s been called lazy his whole life.
“I haven’t seen anything in the media that’s been said or written by anyone that’s referenced Usman being lazy, so I’m not sure where that’s come from.”
Khawaja has previously spoken of the frustration of having his batting labelled elegant when in form and lazy when out of form.
Speaking on Saturday, Australia’s stand-in captain Steve Smith defended his long-time teammate.
“Some of the stuff around him getting injured when he played golf the day before the game, that was unfair,” Smith said.
“I think he’s done that for 15 years and had a pretty good career.”
AAP
