Former West Indies Cricketer Sammy says Jason Holder’s men found extra motivation to beat England because of the Black Lives Matter movement and Michael Holding’s stirring speech before the match.
West Indies drew ‘extra motivation’ from the Black Lives Matter movement to beat England in the 1st Test on Sunday, said former West Indies cricketer Darren Sammy. The win in Southampton was only the second time since 2000 that West Indies have managed to secure a win on English soil.
Speaking on a Sky Sports podcast, Sammy said, “When you have a movement for black lives, and you have a black team come to England – with everything that’s going on – that creates extra motivation.”
“You heard Jason Holder say that listening to Mikey (Holding), he felt it in his veins. And the decision to come over to England and play – there is something special about playing in England that sees West Indians want to rise, and get extra motivated.
“The whole scenario of this Test match, the significance of cricket being back, what it meant to see a black team on TV after this time where sport has not been played, that provided extra motivation for the West Indies.”
Sammy was one of the first to begin the conversation on racism in cricket recently. Before the beginning of the 1st Test in Southampton, Michael Holding delivered a strong speech on how systemic racism works.
According to Sammy, the pre-match spirit in the commentary box and in the world in general as a consequence of the BLM movement had a lot to do with how Jason Holder’s men put one over their English hosts.
The article was first published by indianexpress.com
Its just sad that the West Indies need a movement to motivate them to beat another team in a sport that’s suppose to bring everyone of different race and color together.