Revealed: The cricket political statements that got the green light - after Usman Khawaja was banned from wearing his pro-Palestine shoes

Usman Khawaja has been banned by Cricket Australia from sharing what he calls a 'humanitarian message' of peace amid the war in Gaza - but political statements in cricket are not a new phenomena.

Khawaja, a proud Muslim, revealed plans to wear shoes bearing the slogans 'freedom is a human right' and 'all lives matter' during Australia's Test match against Pakistan in Perth on Thursday.

However, cricket's governing body has told Khawaja to 'uphold' their rules on banning the display of personal messages.

The sport has had a complicated and often uncomfortable relationship with political protests, although players continue to take stands on various issues. 

In 1971, South African players walked off the field after just one ball was bowled to protest the apartheid regime during a high-profile First-Class match in Cape Town. 

It was a defining moment in both the history of South Africa and the sport.

In 2022, the Australian Test team took the knee ahead of the first ball in the series opener against the West Indies in Perth.

The gesture was made popular by the Black Lives Matter movement in the US and Australia captain Pat Cummins said the decision to join in was made 'in support of equality'.

At the time, fans flooded Cricket Australia's post about the opening game of the Test summer at Optus Stadium with comments about wanting the national team to focus on cricket, not politics.

In 2019, India's cricket team wore army camouflage-style caps in the third ODI against Australia in tribute to Indian paramilitary police killed in a militant attack by a Pakistan-based group.

The idea to wear the caps came from former Indian cricket captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni, one of cricket's biggest stars and an honorary lieutenant colonel with the Indian Army.

The team, led by Virat Kohli, also donated their earnings from that match to the families of the defence personnel who died while on duty. 

However, later that year Dhoni was asked to remove  an Indian Army insignia from his gloves. The ICC said its clothing and equipment rules allow only manufacturers' logos on apparel, and that Dhoni or the Indian team had not sought any permission to sport the badge.

In January 2023, Australia cancelled their one-day series with Afghanistan following concerns over 'further restrictions' on women's rights in the Taliban-ruled country.

The Australian sports minister, Anika Wells, praised the side for the boycott in response to the Taliban's 'unacceptable' treatment of women and girls.

In 2014, English cricketer Moeen Ali was banned from wearing his 'Save Gaza' and 'Free Palestine' wristbands while playing for England by the International Cricket Council.

The match referee David Boon banned the batsman from wearing the wristband and an ICC statement said: 'The ICC Equipment and Clothing Regulations do not permit the display of messages that relate to political, religious or racial activities or causes during an international match.

In the 2003 World Cup, Henry Olonga club and Andy Flower made a 'human rights' stand against the Mugabe regime by wearing black armbands during Zimbabwe's opening match, against Namibia.

They played wearing the black armbands to 'mourn the death of democracy in our beloved Zimbabwe', as they put it in a statement afterwards.

The pair were condemned by Zimbabwean political figures but praised by international media. 

The ICC decided that Flower and Olonga had taken a political action but refused to charge them with an offence.