Darren Sammy Labels The 'Black Lives Matter' Movement The Incentive Behind West Indies' Victory In Southampton

Former West Indies captain Darren Sammy underlined the significance of the Black Lives Matter movement behind West Indies’ emphatic victory in the first Test against England. While the return of international cricket was a milestone in itself, the series in the United Kingdom also dedicated to the racial abuse black people have been enduring. And Darren Sammy has remained an instrumental voice amid that.

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West Indies and England marked the return of cricket on an international level; however, the latter had the last laugh. Inspired by Jason Holder’s captaincy and bowling performance, his men managed to gun down 200 in the fourth innings to win the first Test in Southampton by four wickets. The triumph allowed them to travel to Manchester with a series lead. Amongst batsmen, Jermaine Blackwood played a crucial role while Shannon Gabriel took nine wickets in the match.

Darren Sammy opines that the movement of protests against racial abuse on black people gave the visitors an extra motivation to excel. The two time T20 World Cup-winning captain believes that their decision to play in England under challenging circumstances and especially a black team going there gave the West Indies a point to prove.

“When you have a movement for black lives, and you have a black team come to England – with everything that’s going on – that creates extra motivation. And the decision to come over to England and play – there is something special about playing in England that sees West Indians want to rise, and get extra motivated,” the 36-year old stated in the Sky Sports Podcast.

You heard Jason Holder say that listening to Mikey (Holding), he felt it in his veins: Darren Sammy

Darren Sammy also cited West Indian captain Jason Holder’s comments on Michael Holding’s speech about racism that hit the nail on the head. The all-rounder added that the Test match had a significance that the broadcasters and the commentators stressed on avoiding racial abuse encouraged the visitors to go an extra mile and win the game.

“You heard Jason Holder say that listening to Mikey (Holding), he felt it in his veins. The whole scenario of this Test match, the significance of cricket being back, what it meant to see a black team on TV after this time where sport has not been played, that provided extra motivation for the West Indies,” the St.Lucia born added.

Jason Holder already remarked before the first Test that the Black Lives Matter Movement could inspire them to do better. West Indies’ head coach Phil Simmons also revealed to have faced it when playing league cricket in England.

At the same time, before play got underway in Southampton, both the teams bent down on one knee to show their solidarity towards the movement. They also sported the Black Lives matter logo on their collars.