Lisa Sthalekar opens up about casual racism growing up

Lisa Sthalekar, former Australian cricketer now-turned-commentator, has talked about the casual racism she faced within cricket teams while growing up.

“There has been casual racism within teams regularly growing up,” she told Cricbuzz. “People would say, ‘You need to carry the bags, Lisa’... things like that over the years. Obviously things changed in the environment and what was acceptable changed, but I've had a few incidents that haven't been great.” She also talked about the time when her teammates forced her wear a bindi made with a permanent marker.

In the wake of the Black Lives Matter movement, sports people from different parts of the world have spoken against racism. Daren Sammy, former West Indies captain, talked about being subjected to racism by some of his team mates.

Sthalekar feels being a sportsperson helped her cope with it. She, however, said what her sister went through was worse.

“I think if you're a sportsperson you tend to have a thicker skin because you're constantly getting judged or critiqued or the banter on the field,” she said.

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“Maybe that allowed me to cope. For me, it wasn't as bad as it was for my sister. Sport covered over things for me that were there for others.”

Sthaleker, who represented Australia in 187 international matches across formats, believes the diverse nature of broadcast teams help to keep ‘casual racism’ at bay from the broadcast world with the presence of multi-cultural people.

“I've never felt it in the broadcast world, but I'm sure there would be some people who would have some examples of what it was like earlier,” she added.

“People are now just starting to look within probably a little bit more and how they conduct themselves. It is everywhere on our screens and you go 'hang on, what do I say...I probably shouldn't say this or I probably shouldn't make this joke'. So, I hope that what it's done is enlightened everyone to just look within first and foremost before pointing fingers at everyone else.”