S Poddar
Heather Knight, the England women’s cricket captain, openly admitted to one of the biggest mistakes that defines her past: a 2012 social media post where she appeared in blackface. “I was a 21-year-old who took an end-of-season fancy dress party, held at a Kent cricket club, rather too seriously and dressed up as the authentic version of a West Indian,” Knight said recently.
That photo was shared from another person’s Facebook page and then Cricket Discipline Commission disciplined Knight after such inquiry. She has been fined £1,000 for which the suspension has been passed for two years.
The 33-year-old issued a statement released by the ECB, expressing her regret at the move. “I’m genuinely sorry for the error I committed in 2012. It was wrong and at times I have long felt that way. At the time, I was clearly not educated enough on what my actions implied and what the consequences of this would be. No ill-intent was meant.”
Knight underlined commitment to going forward making an impact saying: “While I cannot change the past, I am passionate and committed to using my platform to promote inclusivity across the game, ensuring under-represented groups are afforded the same opportunities and fulfillment within the game as I have,” she added.
Knight has been in charge of the England women’s side since 2016 and will stay at the helm when they travel to the United Arab Emirates for next month’s T20 World Cup. She had been with the team in Abu Dhabi from mid-September, preparing for what was promising to be an important few weeks.
ECB chief executive Richard Gould also weighed in, endorsing Knight’s apology. “She acknowledges that this was a grave error of judgment over 10 years ago and has rightly apologised. As a public figure and leader, Heather has worked tirelessly to foster a more inclusive and equitable future for cricket.”
He also pointed out that Knight took a positive and proactive role in promoting diversity and advocating on behalf of the voiceless communities, which reinforced her status as the positive role model in the sport. “While we cannot change the past, we can certainly learn from it. This incident serves as a reminder of the work ongoing to combat racism and discrimination,” Gould noted.
Technically speaking, this incident has involved Knight when she had already been with the England squad for over two years. The picture first came to the public in July this year when the Cricket Regulator conducted its inquiry, and the formal charge was leveled against her in August when she was captaining London Spirit in The Hundred, which her team won.
Dave Lewis, interim Cricket Regulator director noted: “Cricket has a part to play in becoming an even more inclusive sport and the Cricket Regulator is committed to acting positively and impartially whenever racist behaviour is reported to us. In this instance, Ms. Knight’s behavior was discriminatory and offensive; however, the Cricket Discipline Commission accepted there was no racist intent within her conduct.”
Lewis praised the fact that Knight acknowledged her acts of doing and the potential harm they could cause along with her apology. This incident is a very important reminder of how to be sensitive to issues of race and discrimination, even in the public sphere, such as sport.
Knight’s experience, mainly growth in personal and professional life, really finds the context while understanding public figures in the sense of a journey of realizing and being accountable in order to understand their responsibilities and how their works may influence. In preparing her team to play at the World Cup, the commitment that defines Knight to inclusivity and to learning from mistakes past sets up as a very powerful message for her teammates, and the cricket community as a whole.
