Bridgetown: Australian opener Usman Khawaja has refused to participate in a post-play interview with SEN Radio in protest over the network’s treatment of veteran cricket journalist Peter Lalor.
Moments after Australia’s players came from the field following the opening day of their first Test against the West Indies in Bridgetown, Khawaja was scheduled to do a pre-record interview with SEN commentators Adam Collins and Bharat Sundaresan on the field at Kensington Oval.
Khawaja, who made 47 runs earlier in the day, told the pair he would not be doing the interview.
Sources speaking on the condition of anonymity, said Khawaja’s decision related to SEN’s controversial axing of Lalor earlier this year, which the Test star views as unfair.
Lalor, a veteran cricket reporter, was removed from SEN’s coverage midway through Australia’s tour of Sri Lanka in February. The decision followed his social media activity around the conflict in Gaza, including reposts of news articles about Israeli airstrikes and the release of Palestinian prisoners.
SEN chief executive Craig Hutchison informed Lalor on the final morning of the Galle Test that his services were no longer required.
Usman Khawaja in action for Australia. Credit: Getty Images
At the time, Khawaja publicly backed Lalor in a social media post.
“Standing up for the people of Gaza is not antisemitic nor does it have anything to do with my Jewish brothers and sisters in Australia, but everything to do with the Israeli government and their deplorable actions,” Khawaja posted on Instagram in February.
“It has everything to do with justice and human rights. Unfortunately hatred towards the Jewish and Muslim community will always exist. Pete is a good guy with a good heart. He deserves better.”
At the end of play, Khawaja saw an SEN microphone and informed Collins and Sundaresan he would not be doing an interview. The Australian cricket team’s media manager, Cole Hitchcock, was present at the time.
Cricket journalist Peter Lalor (left) and SEN chief Craig Hutchison.Credit: Nine
It is unclear whether other members of the Australian team will refuse to do SEN interviews throughout the tour.
Hutchison was contacted for comment.
SEN has a team of commentators in Barbados covering Australia’s first Test match series in the Caribbean since 2015. ABC Radio is not in the West Indies.
Hutchison attended day one of the cricket in Barbados, hosting station sponsors.
Lalor, who is covering the Test series for Cricket Et Al, said in a statement: “Usman is a man of principle whose support I valued greatly when I was dismissed and whose ongoing support I appreciate.”
In February, Lalor made a long post shortly after parting ways with SEN.
“I was told in one call there were serious organisations making complaints; in another I was told that this was not the case,” Lalor wrote in his statement.
“Perhaps I misunderstood. I was told there were accusations I was antisemitic which I strongly objected to. I was told my retweeting was not balanced, and insensitive to one side and that many people had complained.
“I was asked by station boss Craig Hutchison, who was civil, if I didn’t care that my retweeting of events in Gaza made Jewish people in Melbourne feel unsafe. I said I didn’t want anyone to feel unsafe. Of course, I care. I have friends who are frightened and have heard the fear in their voices during conversations. It is an awful situation. But so is Gaza. It was a brief and cordial call.
“The following day Hutchison told me that because the ‘sound of my voice made people feel unsafe’ and that people are ‘triggered by my voice’, I could not cover the cricket for them any more.”
