SEN boss claims he doesn't know why Usman Khawaja boycotted radio interview

SEN boss Craig Hutchison says his organisation won't try to interview Usman Khawaja again, after the Australian cricketer refused a chat with the radio broadcaster during the first Test against the West Indies.

The Aussie opener was brought over towards SEN commentators Adam Collins and Bharat Sundaresan after the day's play, but politely declined the interview upon realising who the broadcaster was.

His boycott came in the wake of Hutchison's decision to sack respected journalist Peter Lalor from the SEN Cricket broadcast during the Australian team's tour of Sri Lanka earlier this year, due to his social media posting in support of Palestine.

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Lalor released a statement at the time revealing that the SEN chief and AFL media personality told the reporter that his voice "made people feel unsafe", due to his criticisms of the Israeli assault on Gaza.

Khawaja spoke out against SEN's Lalor sacking when it happened.

But speaking on The Sounding Board podcast this week, Hutchison claimed he was unaware why the protest occurred.

"I don't know (why he did it), I didn't see it happen,'' Hutchison, who was at the venue in Barbados hosting corporate clients, said.

"But he clearly didn't speak to us, which is fine. That's his prerogative, that's his right. I've got a lot of respect for Usman.

"And if he doesn't want to talk to us, he doesn't have to. It doesn't mean a thing really in terms of our ability to broadcast the cricket. So if he didn't want to talk to us, I don't know why."

When co-host Damian Barrett pushed him on the reasoning, Hutchison admitted that it was probably related to his sudden sacking of Lalor.

"I would assume that's the right reason, but I don't know why,'' he replied.

"And that's totally fine. As I mentioned in the past, access is neither here nor there in terms of your ability to broadcast or do your job."

Given Khawaja's position, the SEN boss said they would abstain from approaching him for interviews again.

"So if he doesn't want to do interviews with us ongoing, which he looks like it is the case, that's totally fine. We respect that and we won't ask that of him again," Hutchison said.

"I'm not going to get into it again (about Lalor). There's no point getting into it again. It obviously was a wider issue, which I explained at the time, than the one that seemingly Usman's interpreted.

"But that's OK. There's no point backing over it, I respect Usman.

"He's been great for Australian cricket. He can have that view of us if he chooses, and we'll respect it.

"We won't interview him or ask that of him in the future."

After being shunned by Khawaja, Sundaresan himself put out a statement on social media.

At the time of Lalor's sacking, Khawaja expressed his disappointment on social media.

"Standing up for the people of Gaza is not antisemitic nor does it have anything to do with my Jewish brothers and sisters in Australia, but everything to do with the Israeli government and their deplorable actions," Khawaja posted on Instagram in February.

In February, Hutchison "stood by" his decision to sack Lalor.

"What I would say is, we live in a very sensitive time in a community that, there's so many sections of the community that are hurting and going through lots. And I want to be really respectful of everyone in that community. It is a more difficult time than it's ever been in Australian life," he told the same podcast.

SEN Cricket will have to carefully navigate the situation, given Hutchison's station is all-in on broadcasting cricket around the world.

Crikey's Daanyal Saeed has previously reported that other journalists have refused SEN interviews in support of Lalor since his dismissal.