Australia men's team to do barefoot circle in solidarity with anti-racism movement

Melbourne:Australian men's team will stand in a circle with bare feet at the start of every international series in solidarity with the anti-racism movement while also celebrating indigenous culture Pat Cummins said on Monday.

"We've chatted quite a bit about it, especially over the last couple of months. And this thing is really important to do our bit. We've decided to do the 'Barefoot Circle'. We're going to look at doing at the start of each series," he said.

"It's a pretty easy decision for us as soon as you try and learn a little bit about it, it just becomes a really easy decision. Obviously not just as a sport but we as people absolutely are against racism. I think we can probably put our hands up and say we haven't done enough in the past and we want to get better so this is one small thing we're going to introduce this summer.

"In addition, we're going to work a lot on our education. We're trying to learn as much about our history in Australia in particular moving forward and look forward to doing the Barefoot Circle. I thought NAIDOC week last week in the Sheffield Shield that was quite a powerful opening day. And of course in the WBBL, seeing a lot of great acts there as well," he added.

Taking the knee as part of the BLM movement was seen in many sporting events across the globe, but Australia chose the 'Barefoot Circle' to ensure a deeper local connect.

"The most obvious one (reason) was in Australia we think the most marginalised group is the First Nations People and the indigenous people, and we think the barefoot circles are I guess a great way to celebrate them. I guess some people might want to take the knee, some people might want to show in different ways and absolutely, we're all for that. We kind of have come together as a team and think this is the best way we can demonstrate anti-racism as well as celebrating the indigenous culture here.

"It's something we spoke about. Encouraging anyone to if they feel strongly about a demonstration, whether it's taking a knee or whatever it is, we'll 100 percent support them in that. I think it all boils down to a similar idea of 'yeah racism exists'. We want to do our bid in order to stop that and try and be better. I think everyone will do it in their own little way internally. What we've spoken about is everyone's on board with the 'Barefoot Circle' and I'm not sure if they'll take it any further than that," Cummins explained.

Recently, in the WBBL, a group of 15 cricketers, including the Indigenous players in the league - Hannah Darlington, Anika Learoyd, Ash Gardner, Ella Haywood and Mikayla Hinkley - and eight club captains participated in a barefoot ceremony.Australia are hosting India for 3 ODIs, 3 T20Is and 4 Tests starting November 27.(UNI)