Usman Khawaja’s blog post today is important.  He wrote a piece on Players Voice describing his experiences as an expatriate Pakistani coming up through the ranks of Australian cricket, and describing the extent to which he was racially vilified.

SBS carried the story, citing a Reuters article, but I have not seen Khawaja’s comments reported by other major media outlets in Australia. I did not actually see the SBS report, but instead became aware of Khawaja’s comments via reports by the UK’s Daily Mail and Telegraph and India’s Indian Express.

This blog has no interest in politics. It wants to discuss cricket. But this stuff matters.

I can’t say I was surprised to learn of the racial vilification Khawaja has endured, but I am no less saddened by it. Racism in any and all forms is ugly, destructive, and must be condemned whenever and wherever it occurs. Only then can we move closer to a world in which it is eradicated altogether.

Khawaja wrote “Australian cricket is slowly changing and will finally have a chance to reflect what Australia really is.”

Let’s hope so.