Willow
Assistant Moderator
- Messages
- 110,209
"Very sad to see Flower and Olonga forced out of international cricket because of their political convictions. "
The above quote is a simple statement which summarises the general feeling that exists amongst many cricket supporters.
Both Henry Olongo and Andy Flower wore black arm bands in the Cricket World Cup to protest against what they called, 'the death of democracy in Zimbabwe.'
Olongo and Flower have since been banned from playing cricket at any level. Henry Olongo in particular has been subjected to severe harrassment in recent weeks.According to reports, he came within a whisker of being charged with treason. In Mugabe's Zimbabwe, treason carries a mandatory death penalty.
I had no idea that these guys were risking their lives when they took up their protest... that takes some guts.
To put this in perspective, these cricketers are well respected and well known. One can but imagine whats going on in other areas where communities do not enjoy the same access to information and communication.
With the Cricket World Cup falling into the archives, its likely that we'llhear nothing about this again. Afterall, no one really cares what happens in Zimbabwe, right? Nevertheless, I though it worthwhile to remind ourselvesof what happened.
The above quote is a simple statement which summarises the general feeling that exists amongst many cricket supporters.
Both Henry Olongo and Andy Flower wore black arm bands in the Cricket World Cup to protest against what they called, 'the death of democracy in Zimbabwe.'
Olongo and Flower have since been banned from playing cricket at any level. Henry Olongo in particular has been subjected to severe harrassment in recent weeks.According to reports, he came within a whisker of being charged with treason. In Mugabe's Zimbabwe, treason carries a mandatory death penalty.
I had no idea that these guys were risking their lives when they took up their protest... that takes some guts.
To put this in perspective, these cricketers are well respected and well known. One can but imagine whats going on in other areas where communities do not enjoy the same access to information and communication.
With the Cricket World Cup falling into the archives, its likely that we'llhear nothing about this again. Afterall, no one really cares what happens in Zimbabwe, right? Nevertheless, I though it worthwhile to remind ourselvesof what happened.
