England and Australia are prepared to square off in the high-profile Ashes series, which begins on 08th December. In the run-up to the much-anticipated series, it has been suggested that Joe Root and team may call a halt to any of the Test series whether any of the touring party’s players are exposed to racist or other forms of abuse by the Australian spectators.
It should be underlined that England’s executive director, Ashley Giles, has given Joe Root all authority over this major decision in case Australia’s huge crowd breaches any limit. From Giles’ point of view, it is evident that racism will not be tolerated in the series.
I don’t think any of our players should be subject to any abuse: Ashley Giles
“We know crowds can be lively there. I’ve experienced that myself as a player. But it’s important to say from the start there is no room for discrimination in our game,” said Ashley Giles.
“I’d certainly trust Joe Root to do what’s right. If he chose to bring the team into the middle of the field and stop the game while any incident is investigated then absolutely. I don’t think any of our players should be subject to any abuse actually but discrimination and racism particularly.”
Giles went on to say that after Azeem Rafiq’s racism issue became public, there’s been a lot of discussion about it, and English players in the Ashes team have also focused on it. Sharing his thoughts, he noted that racism and prejudice should be obviously prohibited, but not giving the guilty individual a 2nd opportunity to redeem himself is not correct. Rafiq even accused former England captain Michael Vaughan of making racial comments against Asian players.
“If zero tolerance means there is no acceptance of racism and discrimination, absolutely, that’s completely right. But for me, if zero tolerance means that we cut people off, we don’t give second chances, we don’t give people the chance to rehabilitate, then I think we’ve got a problem,” he concluded.
