Cricket Australia sais they backed Usman Khawaja’s right to express his support for the people of Gaza but expected him to conform to International Cricket Council (ICC) rules banning displays on his playing equipment, Reuters reports.

Batter Khawaja had the messages “Freedom is a human right” and “All lives are equal” written on his boots in the colours of the Palestinian flag in Tuesday’s training for the first Test against Pakistan.

“We support the right of our players to express personal opinions, but the ICC has rules in place which prohibit the display of personal messages which we expect the players to uphold,” Cricket Australia said in a statement.