Warner backs Khawaja over writing daughters' names on shoes for ...
David Warner has endorsed his opening partner Usman Khawaja donning shoes adorned with the names of his daughters Aisha and Ayla to continue his human rights protest against the Israel-Hamas war.
Speaking after he scored 38 of Australia’s 3-187 on a rain-interrupted opening day of the second Test against Pakistan at the MCG, Warner said he wrote the names of his three daughters on his shoes.
“They’ve been on the back of my shoe for a long time,” Warner said. “Writing your kids’ names, for me, it’s sentimental. They’re always with me. And that’s something that he decided to do.
“I haven’t talked to him about it. He’s put his statement out there that he believes in, that all lives are equal. He wouldn’t have made that statement if he didn’t feel like he could take the criticism. He knew there would be criticism. He’s a big boy.
“I just said to him, ‘Keep believing what you believe in and move on and get on with cricket’. And he’s done that pretty well.”
Khawaja’s decision to write his daughters’ names on his shoes comes after the International Cricket Council this week refused an application compiled with Cricket Australia and the Australian Cricketers’ Association. Khawaja wanted to have a dove insignia on his bat and shoes with a pointer to the United Nations’ Universal Declaration of Human Rights.
Usman Khawaja batting at the MCG on Boxing Day.Credit: Getty
He was refused permission to wear shoes with the words “all lives are equal” and “freedom is a human right” before the first Test in Perth, and was reprimanded by the ICC for wearing a black armband instead.
Khawaja first invoked his daughters on Friday at the MCG while launching Cricket Australia’s Multicultural Action Plan, aimed at making cricket a more inclusive sport.
“What I wrote on my shoes [in Perth], I thought about it for a while,” he said on Friday. “I made sure I didn’t want to segregate different parts of the population, religious beliefs and communities. I wanted it to be really broad because I’m speaking about humanitarian issues.
“The reason I’m doing it is because it hit me hard. When I’m looking at my Instagram and seeing innocent kids, videos of them dying, passing away, that’s what hit me the hardest.
Mike Hussey celebrates a century for Australia.Credit: Fairfax
“I just imagine my young daughter in my arms ... I get emotional talking about it again. I don’t have any hidden agendas. If anything, this brings up more negativity towards me. I don’t get anything out of this.”
Khawaja’s former teammate Mike Hussey has strongly endorsed Khawaja’s humanitarian stance.
“I think his real authentic self is coming out,” Hussey said at the MCG on Tuesday ahead of the second Test against Pakistan, after being inducted into the Australian Cricket Hall of Fame. “This is who he is. He’s very passionate in his beliefs and his morals and his values. He’s not afraid to put them out there.”
“I’m quite proud of him, actually,” added Hussey, who played with Khawaja for Australia and captained him at the Sydney Thunder. “I don’t think he’s trying to be divisive or political or anything like that. I feel as though he’s taking a humanitarian sort of view on life.
Khawaja was born in Pakistan and moved to Australia with his family as a young child. He is the first Muslim to play cricket for Australia and has had a remarkable late-career resurgence as an opening batsman.
The 37-year-old’s initial attempt to wear messaging on his shoes in Perth without official permission from Cricket Australia or the ICC appears to have created a roadblock for further attempts to spread his message. The writing was in the colours of a Palestinian flag.
Cricket Australia chief executive Nick Hockley alluded to this during a press conference at the MCG ahead of the first session of the Boxing Day Test.
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“My understanding is the context of the lead in to the Perth Test, and the context of the lead-in to the making of the application [contributed to the ICC’s response],” Hockley said.
The ICC and Khawaja have both declined to comment.
They included Marnus Labuschagne with an eagle on his bat pointing to a Bible verse.
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