Cricket Australia is battle-ready to fight racism and prevent a Mohammed Siraj-like incident during the Border-Gavaskar Trophy

“I think first and foremost, we have to acknowledge that racism still exists in society and hasn’t gone away. It’s still there. And it’s going to be there for some time, unfortunately,” Michael Napper, who has come up with Cricket Australia’s initiative to engage with multicultural audiences, tells The Indian Express from Melbourne.

“We recognize that sport should be free of that. And it should just be a place where everyone can come and celebrate, feel welcome, and be part of that. So I’m really hopeful that we have moved beyond all those infamous incidents,” he says.

Napper explains the roadmap that they have made to ensure that there is no place for racism in Australian cricket at any level. Be it grassroots or at the highest level and there would be steps that will ensure a due process is followed.

Police remove a group of spectators from their seats after Mohammed Siraj of India complained to umpires of being racially abused during day four of the third test match between Australia and India at the SCG (Source: Reuters)

“It’s very simple. If we can identify and know who has done an act like that, whatever that act might be, they would immediately be asked to leave. I’m saying that politely, they’ll be removed. And that will happen within the venue itself. They would then be part of… call it a legal process where we would look at a potential banning order. And so they can’t come to cricket going forward. If it happened in grassroots and playing cricket, it would be a similar thing, we would go through a tribunal process, there’d be an investigation. And likewise, if they were found to have made racist remarks or comments, there would be some sort of sanction, whether that be a ban, a fine or something like that. It’s something we are taking very seriously.”

Napper, who has been the driving force behind Cricket Australia’s plan to reach out to the sub-continent audience, explains why they want to tap the rapidly increasing South Asian population in Australia, and when they came up with the plan.

“I think it probably started over the last, call it 10 years or so. There is a high level of migration that’s coming over. You know, within cricket, we’ve been seeing more and more South Asian heritage or ancestry or even people who were born in South Asia coming to our games, following cricket, and being part of the Australian cricket family. So for us, it’s really about making sure that they feel included in everything we do.

“When COVID hit really, and when we were redesigning our new strategic plan. So a key focus for us was, right, how can we better engage with the multicultural and South Asian audience within Australia to really make them feel part of the sport. And so that was where the Multicultural Action Plan came from,” he says.

Cricket Australia has also tapped into the sub-continent students studying in universities across Australia.

“We know the student population in Australia is massive, particularly in Melbourne. We have reached out to them, and you’ve seen the impact that had in the recent Pakistan game, the ODI that we had over at the MCG. That crowd was so young, so vibrant, making so much noise, a huge amount of that comes down to the work we’ve done in contacting universities.

“We’ve got a WhatsApp group or a mailing list of 40,000 students now from a South Asian background. So yeah, spot on. It’s a key audience for us and someone who we want to continue connecting with, not just for international cricket, because obviously, you know, Pakistan or India might come once every few years. But we want to make sure that you’re also coming to the Big Bash and being part of Australian cricket. We want to make sure that they can enjoy cricket regardless of the year,” says Napper.

“Potentially, we might end up with a sea of blue at certain Test matches this summer, where we’re seeing lots of Indian fans. And that could be contentious for some Australians. But we’re hoping that we’re going to have a really good festival and party atmosphere,” says Napper.

There is also the very important aspect of educating immigrants about Australian culture.

“And it’s a two-way thing. We actually are trying to do that in all forms to get right. So we know that if you’re attending games, it’s about understanding that, you know, Australian fans will typically visit the game with their friends, have fun, drink alcohol, and celebrate. And it’s much more of that more laid-back affair where you see it in the sun, you watch the game, and there’s that constant buzz.

“Then you have the Indian fans coming in who want to bring instruments, they want to shout, they want to make noise, they want to have that festival-like atmosphere. And it’s making sure both of those things can coexist. And then similarly, when you’re talking about grassroots cricket, or you’re talking about watching cricket, it’s about making sure those cultures can all come together and enjoy it in a way that suits them.”