Aussie cricket great slammed for 'hurtful and cruel' protest tweet

Jason Gillespie has taken aim at Rodney Hogg after the Aussie cricket great tweeted ‘All Lives Matter’.

Athletes across a range of sports have spoken out about racism after the death of George Floyd, a black man who died on May 25 after a white policeman knelt on his neck for nearly nine minutes in Minneapolis.

'NO ROOM FOR WOMEN': Aussie star slams Geoffrey Boycott comments

UNEQUAL: Controversy erupts over Michael Clarke's Order of Australia

With ‘Black Lives Matter’ protests going on around the world, use of the term ‘All Lives Matter’ has been widely condemned as it largely misses point.

So when Hogg tweeted exactly that he was inundated with angry responses.

“Believe it or not but all lives matter,” Hogg tweeted.

Among those calling out Hogg for his tone-deaf comment was Gillespie.

“You are missing the point Rodney,” Gillespie wrote along with a quote from American author Doug Williford.

“If my wife comes to me in obvious pain and asks, ‘Do you love me?’ an answer of ‘I love everyone’ would be truthful, but also hurtful and cruel in the moment.

“If a co-worker comes to me upset and says, ‘My father died,’ a response of ‘Everyone’s parents die’ would be truthful but hurtful and cruel in the moment.

“So when a friend speaks up in a time of obvious pain and hurt and says, ‘Black lives matter,’ a response of ‘All lives matter’ is truthful. But it’s hurtful and cruel in the moment.”

Hogg has a history of causing offence on social media, apologising for comments about Muslims on Australia Day in 2012.

“Just put out my Aussie flag for Australia Day but I wasn’t sure if it would offend Muslims … so I wrote ‘Allah is a s***’ on it to make sure,” he wrote at the time.

Hogg apologised a few hours later, writing: “Bad attempted Australian humour, sorry if I offended you.”

ECB vows to address racism in cricket

Meanwhile, the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) has acknowledged that the sport is not immune to systemic racism and says it will address the issue and try to bring “meaningful and long-term change” to the game.

“We have listened carefully to those who have spoken out in recent weeks about their experiences of being black in cricket, sport and society,” the ECB said in a statement.

“We know that systemic racism spans institutions and sectors across the country and we know that our sport is not immune.

“We truly believe that cricket is a game for everyone but understand that, sadly, barriers to its enjoyment exist for many communities.”

Former England batsman Michael Carberry - who also played for Perth Scorchers in the Big Bash League - this week told the Cricket Badger podcast the sport is “rife with racism”, while fast bowler James Anderson said the team will consider a joint anti-racism protest with West Indies during their three-Test series next month.

with AAP