Danny Morrison has been castigated for addressing one of the world’s best women’s cricketers as “my dear” during an interview.
The former New Zealand representative – now a commentator and presenter – was interviewing Velocity captain Mithali Raj after her team’s loss in the Women’s T20 Challenge in Sharjah.
“Tomorrow’s a day off, my dear, Mithali Raj … what are you going to do, what are Velocity going to do tomorrow?”
After Raj replied, Morrison then said: “Chin up, keep smiling.”
Sportswriter and broadcaster Isabelle Westbury tweeted: “Don’t call international sportswomen ‘my dear’ in interviews. You wouldn’t say it to a man. It shouldn’t need to be said.
“I worry (a lot) about overreacting to these kinds of comments, to commentators who I’m sure do not set out to be patronising. We all slip up, I get that.
“But I also firmly believe that media have a responsibility to set the agenda, and language is so important to how we perceive our athletes – as leaders, as role models.
“The bar is a simple one: if you are addressing a former India captain, if you wouldn’t in a million years call MS Dhoni “my dear” then it shouldn’t even cross your mind to address Mithali Raj as such.”
Her views were shared by fellow cricket writer Raf Nicholson, who said: “Can’t believe this has to be said in 2020 but please DO NOT call female players ‘my dear’ or tell them to ‘keep smiling’ when you are interviewing them in the post-match. FFS”.
India’s Raj is regarded as one of the best batters in history, having scored more ODI runs than any other women’s player.
