Phil Simmons: Racism 'not nice' to face

WEST Indies head coach Phil Simmons said he once experienced racism while playing in England, saying it is "not a nice thing."

West Indies are in England preparing for a three-match Test series against the home team starting on July 8.

Athletes have been showing their support for the Black Lives Matter movement after African American George Floyd was killed by a white police officer in Minnesota on May 25. Talks are ongoing between West Indies and England on how they will show their support for the Black Lives Matter movement during the series.

Simmons, talking to journalists on Zoom on Monday, said, "We definitely have plans to show our unity and our backing for it. The chats with our English counterparts are ongoing...I suppose by the end of this week we would have had a chat with them and see what we can do together. We definitely are thinking about things that we can do to show our solidarity for the movement."

Players in the English Premier League are all wearing T-shirts saying "Black Lives Matter" and take a knee in support before matches kick off. The league resumed last week after a three-month lay off because of covid19.

Simmons, who played for West Indies from 1987 to 1999, on his racism experience while playing in England, said, "I haven't really (experienced it) at county level, I encountered quite a bit up in the leagues...I know it is not a nice thing to face, especially in the leagues, where you (are) by yourself sometimes. And it affected my wife when I was up there. So it's not a nice thing."

Asked more about his racism experience, Simmons said, "It was one particular league up in the northeast."

Simmons played for a number of teams in England, mostly in the 1990s.