This article is from the source 'guardian' and was first published or seen on . It last changed over 40 days ago and won't be checked again for changes.

You can find the current article at its original source at http://www.theguardian.com/sport/2014/jul/28/moeen-ali-england-wristbands-save-gaza-free-palestine

The article has changed 3 times. There is an RSS feed of changes available.

Version 0 Version 1
England defend Moeen Ali for wearing Gaza and Palestine wristbands England allow Moeen Ali to keep wearing Gaza and Palestine wristbands
(about 3 hours later)
England have defended Moeen Ali’s right to wear wristbands demonstrating his support and sympathy for the people of Gaza when batting on the second day of the third Test against India in Southampton. England are happy for Moeen Ali to wear “Save Gaza” and “Free Palestine” wristbands during the remainder of the third Test and beyond, despite an International Cricket Council ban on players displaying political messages.
The International Cricket Council’s code of conduct bans players from displaying “messages which relate to political, religious or racial activities or causes”, and an ICC spokesman confirmed on Monday that the governing body is “investigating the matter”. The ICC has launched an investigation after being alerted to photographs of the 27-year-old batting in the wristbands on the second day of the match, opening up the possibility that Moeen could face punishment for breaching its code of conduct.
But England believe that Moeen’s messages – “Save Gaza” and “Free Palestine” – were humanitarian rather than political, after the 27-year-old had already been pictured raising money for the Gaza relief efforts in his home city of Birmingham last week. But England do not believe that Moeen has done anything wrong, arguing that his messages were humanitarian rather than political. The Worcestershire left-hander had been pictured raising money for the Gaza relief efforts in his home city of Birmingham last week.
An England and Wales Cricket Board spokesman said: “The ECB don’t believe he has committed any offence.” A team spokesperson confirmed that Moeen had not sought permission from the management or informed them that he would be batting in the bands. But he will be free to field again and bowl in them on Tuesday, when the whole team will be wearing the logo of the Help for Heroes charity on their shirt collars to commemorate the 100th anniversary of the outbreak of the first world war.
There is still no confirmation of whether Moeen was given permission by the team management to wear the wristbands. He received support on Twitter from two other British Muslims who have represented England – his cousin Kabir Ali, who plays for Lancashire, and Nottinghamshire’s Ajmal Shahzad, who tweeted: “Absolutely love this! Well done Moeen bro! Keep showing your support! #PrayforGaza”.
The former England coach Andy Flower was not punished by the ICC for wearing a black armband to show his opposition to Robert Mugabe’s regime when playing for Zimbabwe in 2003, and the whole England team have been given permission to wear Help the Heroes logos on their kit on Tuesday to commemorate the anniversary of the outbreak of the First World War. The ICC’s code of conduct for players states: “Players and team officials shall not be permitted to wear, display or otherwise convey messages through arm bands or other items affixed to clothing or equipment unless approved in advance by the player or team official’s Board. Approval shall not be granted for messages which relate to political, religious or racial activities or causes.”
There have been previous examples of players making political statements and not being punished, perhaps most famously the former England coach Andy Flower and his Zimbabwe team-mate Henry Olonga when they wore black armbands to protest against Robert Mugabe’s regime in 2003.
Moeen, who is playing in his fourth Test after making his England debut in one-day cricket last winter, did not display his message for as long as he would have liked, as he was dismissed for 12 after batting for 42 minutes.
But that made way for Jos Buttler, the Lancashire wicketkeeper who was on his Test debut in place of Matt Prior, to make a memorable, if slightly fortunate, 85 from 83 balls.
Ian Bell followedthe first-day example of Alastair Cook by emerging from a run of poor form but in a more fluent manner than his captain. This brought him 167 from 256 balls, his first century since England’s last Test win against Australia in Durham last August, and England were able to declare on a commanding 569 for seven. Jimmy Anderson then took an early wicket to reduce India to 25 for one in reply, although Bell admitted England still face “a lot of hard work” to end their run of 10 Tests without a victory on what he described as “one of the best cricket wickets in the country”.
Bell marked his century by looking to the sky in memory of William, his grandfather who shuttled him around the Midlands in the early days of his playing career and who passed away this month.
He admitted it was a relief to emerge from the curse of England’s player-of-the-year award, which had been threatening to undermine his form as it had Prior’s in 2013. “That was in the back of my mind,” said the 32-year-old, who reached his 21st Test century with a six which also took him past 7,000 Test runs, only the 10th England batsman to do so.
“I feel I’ve been playing well and getting starts but finding ways to get out, which has been frustrating. It’s nice to go through to a big hundred and hopefully put us in a good position to push this game forward.”
He described Buttler’s innings as “outstanding”, and revealed he had passed on a little advice after the wicketkeeper had a lucky break before he had scored, when Ajinkya Rahane claimed a low catch at second slip but the third umpire Rob Bailey granted the usual reprieve because replays could not prove conclusively that the ball had carried.
“He looked like he was thinking a bit too much,” said Bell.. “We spoke about playing with his natural instinct. That’s the player he has to be. He’s a laid-back guy and that’s good, we want to keep that – play aggressively and have no doubts about anything.”
In addition to defending Moeen, England are also hoping to have the charges against Anderson following his clash with Ravindra Jadeja during the first Test at Trent Bridge downgraded from level three, which would leave him in danger of a ban, to level two or even one, which would mean he could only be fined. That would almost certainly infuriate India and their captain, MS Dhoni, who insisted on laying level-three charges against Anderson and described Jadeja’s punishment for a level-one offence as “hurtful”. Anderson’s disciplinary hearing is on Friday.