Usman Khawaja needs a gratitude implant, followed by one for humility.

For those who don't recognise the name, Usman Khawaja is an Australian test cricketer. He migrated with his family from Pakistan when he was a boy and has flourished there by virtue of his cricketing expertise. He even has a Caucasian wife and presents himself to the world as the poster child of successful integration.

Pat Cummins

Usman Khawaja is also a practising Muslim, following Islamic dietary norms, including the avoidance of alcohol. It therefore made a touching scene, when at the recently concluded Cricket World Cup, Aussie captain Pat Cummins scurried around removing beer cans from the team pic so that Khawaja's image wouldn't be besmirched by association with the demon bevvie. Islamophilia is clearly taking hold in the Lucky Country, following a well-worn path that in the Northern Hemisphere means the worse the behaviour of Muslims, the more the 'woke' pander to them.

These shoes are meant for advertising?

Recently Khawaja has been in the media spotlight because of his intention to make a political statement by writing on his cricket shoes 'All lives matter'. This may seem a laudable enough statement, had it not been for the fact that his player contract with Cricket Australia forbids such decorations and at the end of the day Khawaja is an employee in a huge public entertainment enterprise and he is clearly aiming at the current bloodshed in Gaza. Another aggravating factor is that our hero timed his statement for the first test against his birth country Pakistan. There would be a huge viewing audience in Pakistan and it's almost as if Khawaja wanted to send a message back to the old country: 'Hey I may appear to have gone all soft and Westernised, but my traditional loathing for Jews, is in good shape. As Sky News Australia pointed out, Khawaja only swung into action when Israeli forces started to pummel the proverbial out of Hamas in Gaza and some 60 days after the kibbutz slaughter in early October.

Black armband

I'm unsure of the details, but Khawaja. sorted out some kind of compromise with Cricket Australia and was permitted to wear a black armband on the playing field.

The matter should have ended there, but inexplicably the Australian Cricket Players Association have stated its intention to appeal Cricket Australia's ruling, so that Khawaja can put his slogan on his shoes. I've already mentioned 'Islamophilia', but I suspect the players have an eye on the lucrative player contracts available in the Pakistan professional league and wanted to ingratiate themselves with that particular money tree.