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‘Cricketers are apolitical’ - Sports historian says Fawlty Towers controversy won’t affect Windies in England

Published:Saturday | June 13, 2020 | 12:00 AMLennox Aldred/Gleaner Writer
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Protesters raise their fists as they take part in a rally that followed a ‘Silent March’, against racial inequality and police brutality, that was organised by Black Lives Matter Seattle-King County in Seattle, Washington, yesterday.
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Windies’ captain Jason Holder plays a shot against England during day three of their first cricket Test match at the Kensington Oval in Bridgetown, Barbados, on Friday, January 25, 2019.
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ONE of the most memorable episodes of classic British sitcom Fawlty Towers has been withdrawn from a United Kingdom streaming service because of racial slurs which referred to the Windies and India cricket teams of 1975 as ‘N*****s’ and W*gs’.

UKTV, a streaming service owned by the British Broadcasting Corporation, confirmed yesterday that it was temporarily removing the episode titled ‘The Germans’.

The removal of the episode by UKTV follows the decision by HBO Max to temporarily remove the 1939 civil war epic Gone With The Wind because of its racial depictions.

The pulling of the episode happens just days after the current Windies arrived in England to take on the hosts in a three-Test series which is set to bowl off on July 8.

But sports historian Dr Julian Cresser believes the latest development will not have a negative bearing on the current series despite the historical racial tension which took place back in the mid-1970s when Clive Lloyd toured England just after the ICC World Cup.

“I don’t think it will affect the tour largely because it will be isolated and anything outside will not factor,” Cresser said. “For a while now, cricket has not been politicised and I don’t think our cricketers of today are politicised athletes and I think they are largely apolitical.

“Plus, cricket nowadays is largely commercial and players are focusing on making money.”

The university lecturer says it would be a great gesture for both teams to support the Black Lives Matter movement.

GOOD RELATIONS

“I think the relations between the teams largely have been good and it would be a good symbolic gesture to take a stance against racism in whatever way to raise awareness also.”

The Black Lives Matter movement, a series of protests and activism against the mistreatment of persons of colour while in the custody of police officers in the United States, has grown in support after the death of George Floyd on May 25. Floyd, an unarmed black man, died after a white Minneapolis police officer pressed a knee into his neck for eight minutes and 46 seconds while he gasped for air while repeatedly saying “I can’t breathe”. The incident has caused numerous protests, not only in the United States, but in various cities across the world, and many celebrities and famous sporting figures have since stepped up to show their support for black rights.