It’s the exact moment the calamari is being served during our lunch that Usman Khawaja chooses to regale me with his experience of vomiting all over his hotel bathroom that morning.
“When I was younger, none of my cousins had any idea about cricket,” he explains. “In the last six or seven years… all of them are watching it. I reckon the reason is because it’s now on TV. When I was younger, it wasn’t on cable. Now they can watch it at the touch of a finger – that’s how you get kids in the game.”Cricket broadcasting rights were a major talking point during this year’s World Cup.
When I ask if he thinks Australia would be less interested in the boycott if playing Afghanistan was a big earner, his answer is emphatic. It’s a reference to the backlash Khawaja continues to receive for speaking out about the humanitarian crisis in Gaza. Last year the ICC prevented him from displaying the symbol of a dove on his bat, and the slogan “All lives are equal” on his shoes. The disconnect between his attempt to make a political statement, and Australia’s deeply political boycott of Afghanistan is obvious to him.
Throughout our conversation about Gaza, Khawaja regularly brings up what he believes is unfair media coverage – coverage that treats the lives of Palestinians as less than the lives of other victims because of their skin colour and religion. It’s something he identified as a younger person as well.
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