West Indian skipper Jason Holder has called for strict measures against players found guilty of racist statements, saying they should be punished as well as dope offenders and match fixers.
“I don’t think the punishment for doping or corruption should be different for racism,” said Holder BBC Sport.
“If we have problems in our sport, we have to deal with it equally.”
According to ICC rules, a player can be banned for life from racist abuse on the field of play if he or she breaches the anti-racism code three times. A first crime leads to four to eight suspension points.
Two suspension points mean a ban on a test or two one-day caps or two T20 caps.
Holder, who will lead his team against hosts England in the three-test series as of July 8, said that the anti-racism feature can be introduced, in which players are informed of the issue before each series.
“In addition to anti-doping briefings and anti-corruption briefings, we should perhaps have an anti-racism role before we start a series,” he said.
“My message is that more education is needed to get around this. I have not experienced firsthand racial abuse, but have heard or seen a few things. You just can’t stand for that. ”
In international cricket, there have been cases where players have been punished for racism. Last year Sarfaraz Ahmed, then captain of the Pakistani team, was suspended for four games after making a racist remark with South African all-rounder Andile Phehlukwayo.
Black lives count
The death of African American George Floyd by a white police officer in the United States has sparked worldwide outrage at racism in society.
Many cricketers, including former West Indian captains Darren Sammy and Chris Gayle, have learned about racist incidents in their lives and have supported the Black Lives Matter campaign.
Holder previously said that the West Indian team is firmly behind the “Black Lives Matter” movement.
“As a team, we will show our solidarity to the movement. We had little discussion and will show our support on July 8th, ”he said.
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