ENG vs BAN LIVE: England to take the knee after t-shirt banned by ICC

ENG vs BAN LIVE: England set to take the knee after ICC ban on their ‘unity’ T-shirts’ – England players will take the knee before the start of play in their game against Bangladesh after the International Cricket Council (ICC) rejected their plea for allowing them to wear special t-shirts. Eoin Morgan and Co had taken the knee before the match against the West Indies, the first time an England team had knelt since their home one-day series against Ireland in 2020. The reigning 50-over world champions are set to continue taking the knee during the T20 World Cup, after being denied permission to sport unity t-shirts, which first featured during the series against New Zealand.

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ENG vs BAN LIVE: England set to take the knee after ICC ban their ‘unity’ T-shirts’ due to kit regulations

As per reports, England’s request to sport their special “moment of unity T-shirts” was declined by the ICC as it contravenes kit regulations for the T20 World Cup. The t-shirts go against ICC’s laws, which states that the kits cannot be granted approval for messages which relate to political, religious or racial activities or causes. The England shirts bear slogans that condemned seven different types of social injustice and were first used during their Test against New Zealand in June earlier his year.

We respect the differences in our society, our team squad and the history our badge represents. pic.twitter.com/sIe0P3BPU4

— England Cricket (@englandcricket) October 23, 2021

Eoin Morgan and Co. are understood to be relaxed about the ruling and have opted to take a ‘reciprocal’ approach to pre-match gestures. “Our position is we stand against any form of discrimination, which we’re very passionate about. What we’d like to do is a moment of unity, which we did at times during our summer. West Indies like to take a knee, so we wanted to reciprocate that in the first game,” said vice-captain Jos Buttler.

This meant that Eoin Morgan and Co will take the knee during their games, including the game against South Africa. The Proteas will also take the knee after Cricket South Africa made it an official team policy. The pre-match gestures have become a talking point especially after Quinton de Kock opted out from South Africa’s game against the West Indies after Proteas made it mandatory for the team.

ENG vs BAN LIVE: England set to take the knee after ICC ban their ‘unity’ T-shirts’ due to kit regulations

Temba Bavuma, South Africa’s captain Temba Bavuma said that the match itself was “probably one of the toughest days I’ve had to deal with as a captain, as a leader of the team, for obvious reasons with the off-field matters”. He admitted that they were taken aback by Quinton de Kock’s withdrawal, but respected his decision and hoped to gather more information on the same in the coming days.

Bavuma said, “As a team, we are surprised and taken aback by the news. Quinton is a big player for the team, not just with the bat, but from a senior point of view, so not having this at my disposal, as a captain, is obviously something I wasn’t looking forward to. In saying that, Quinton is an adult. He is a man in his own shoes. We respect his decision, we respect his convictions, and I know he will be standing behind the decision he has taken.”

Cricket