Australia's Passive Aggressive Opening Bat

Could someone please tell Australian cricketer Usman Khawaja that ‘grandstand’ is a noun, not a verb.

For the second match in a row, all the pre-game talk has been about the Pakistan-born batman’s bid to score political points.

He’s paid to score runs.

Khawaja made headlines before the Perth Test when he revealed he was planning to wear shoes protesting the war in Gaza.

He wrote “All lives are equal” and “freedom is a human right” on his shoes, insisting he was not taking sides in the conflict.

The fact he wrote his insane slogans in the colours of the Palestinian flag would argue otherwise.

And that the conflict did not concern him when Israelis were being slaughtered but only when Palestinians were in the firing line would also suggest he is being disingenuous with his protestations of neutrality.

When the International Cricket Council refused him permission to wear the shoes, he wore a black armband instead.

He said the armband was for a personal bereavement.

Really?

His mum died?

His grandfather?

He wouldn’t say.

Obviously he wouldn’t say because there was no personal bereavement. He wore the armband in solidarity with Palestinians and in defiance of the ICC.

There’s a pattern here.

Khawaja’s shoes were non-political, though written in Palestinian colours.

Khawaja’s armband was personal, though he refused to elaborate.

Khawaja thinks we are idiots. The ICC, however, are not idiots. They reprimanded him for wearing the armband without having first gained the necessary permission.

Predictably, the Muslim batsman claimed he was being persecuted. If you believe that, you probably believe that Jesus was a Palestinian.

A mob chant “gas the Jews” in Sydney, while another mob throw rocks at a Caulfield synagogue, while yet another mob chase Jews from their Melbourne hotel … but the real victim is Usman Khawaja.

Like I said, someone needs to explain to Khawaja that ‘grandstand’ is where one sits, not a thing one does.

Now, with the Second Test due to start today, all attention is once again on the batsman who is now demanding the right to show a ‘dove’ on his shoes and bat.

This is really starting to become tedious.

Usman told The Australian …

“The reason I’m doing it is because it hit me hard. When I’m looking at my Instagram and I’m seeing kids, innocent kids, videos of them dying, passing away, that’s what’s hit me the hardest.

“I just imagine my young daughter in my arms and the same thing. I get emotional talking about it right now again. And for me that’s the reason I’m doing this, I don’t have any agendas. I don’t get anything out of this I just feel it is my responsibility to speak up on this.”

Most people in Australia are now well aware of Usman’s views.

Messages scribbled on his shoes, a bit of black tape around his bicep, a dove on his bat … none of it makes a scrap of difference to anything happening in the Middle East. And if TV cameras didn’t zoom in on this theatrics on the cricket field, they would pass completely unnoticed.

The option of taking a stand by refusing to play is still available. If he feels that strongly.

Maybe not.

Khawaja is an aggressive opening bat and a passive aggressive political campaigner.

He is sorely testing the patience of cricket lovers.

For the record, I hope David Warner makes a ton in Melbourne. I could care less whether Usman faces more than one ball.

Not all cricketers are equal.