A glaring sense of irony shrouded the cricketing world when the news of the Yorkshire County Cricket Club (YCCC) racism scandal coincided with the International Cricket Council’s (ICC) decision to raise awareness about racism by making it mandatory for players to take the knee before every T20 World Cup match.
It was widely thought that racism in sport, particularly in the UK, was mainly associated with football. We have heard stories of monkey chants during football matches and persistent online abuse of Black footballers, but have hardly heard of racist remarks in cricket on or off the field.
Well, we were all wrong and the YCCC racism saga exposed it.
Pakistani born Azeem Rafiq played for YCCC between 2008 and 2018. Rafiq spoke out about facing institutional racism at the YCCC in September 2020 during an interview with ESPN cricinfo. Following that allegation, the YCCC launched an investigation into their policies and culture. They appointed the law firm, Squire Patton Boggs, to carry out an independent investigation last autumn.
The firm gave its findings to the YCCC in August 2021, but the club did not release the report or disclose is findings to the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) which governs the England cricket team. At that time, the YCCC only admitted Rafiq was a victim of inappropriate behaviour and offered him an apology.
However, YCCC was forced to release the report summary on 10th September after continuing pressure from MPs. Attempts were made to try and lessen the fallout by releasing it at the same time as the news of the postponement of test match between England and India due to a Covid outbreak in the Indian camp.
The club’s summary of the report denied any institutional racism in the club but admitted Rafiq was the victim of racial harassment and bullying. They sent an edited copy to Azeem Rafiq despite a court order to send a full report. The YCCC also announced on 28th October that no one would face disciplinary action. Since then, ESPN has published another story where the YCCC investigation concluded that although “the ‘P’ word was used frequently”, it was used as part of “friendly and good-natured banter” which caused outcry.
The events of the last couple of months has led to the YCCC Chairman Roger Hutton resigning, and being replaced by Lord Kamlesh Patel. Hutton has since come forward to apologise to Azeem Rafiq. However, the revelation of racism in the club, its subsequent cover-up and the public response, led to the club’s sponsors, such as Nike, Emerald Publishing, Harrogate Water, Anchor Butter, Yorkshire Tea, David Lloyds Club and Tetley Beer cutting ties with the club; thus bringing the club’s finances into dire strait.
The Digital, Culture, Media and Sport Committee of the Parliament asked the relevant parties to give their testimony on 16th November 2021. Azeem Rafiq, Ex-chairman Roger Hutton and ECB official attended the hearing. The main points from Rafiq’s statement to the committee are as follows.
Players used racist language, including the “P” term without being challenged, and in Rafiq’s opinion, such words were racist and not “banter”. He felt isolated and humiliated. Rafiq told the committee that things got even worse when he joined the club again in 2016. Especially when Gary Ballance became captain, and Andrew Gale replaced Jason Gillespie as head coach. Rafiq also described an incident at a different club, where a fellow team member pinned him down and poured wine down this mouth when he was only fifteen. He said he started drinking in 2012 so that he could fit in the club.
YCCC former chairman Roger Hutton also gave evidence. According to him, Martyn Moxon and former chief executive Mark Arthur “failed to accept the gravity” of the Rafiq situation. Mr Hutton also told the committee that Mark Arthur asked him to abandon the racism investigation.
Surprisingly no YCCC official or key witnesses like Martyn Moxon, Mark Arthur, Andrew Gale and Garry Ballance agree to speak to the committee
Observing the YCCC racism saga unfolding, it seems there is evidence of institutional racism in the club. The club gave Garry Ballance a three year contract, despite the investigation finding his use of racist remarks towards Rafiq. Although we don’t have the full text of the report; the way management made every effort to brush it under the carpet and hid part of the report suggest deep-rooted racism in the cricket club, and they failed to rein it in. If it weren’t for the bravery of Rafiq and journalist George Dobell of ESPN, who persisted with the story, the matter wouldn’t have gotten the public attention it needed to bring about change. If a world-renowned cricket club with 158 years of history has racism embedded in it, then it’s not unreasonable to assume that cricket itself has a racism problem while authorities have long ignored it. The time has come for the English and Wales Cricket Board to lead in taking concrete steps to root out racism from the game.
The problem of racism in cricket is not confined to the players and management, nor does it have geographical boundaries. It exists within the fans and supporters and is apparent in all parts of the world. Recent examples are Muhammad Shami and Hassan Ali of Pakistan. When India lost to Pakistan in the T20 World Cup, Muhammad Shami was made a scapegoat by the Indian fans declaring him a traitor and telling him to leave India due to his religion. Pakistan fans made similar threats to Hassan Ali when they lost to Australia in the semi-final, profiling him as a Shia due to his name and his wife’s Indian origin.
We’d like to think that taking the knee before a match wouldn’t be just a theatrical gesture. It’s about time that the ICC and all the cricketing boards will install policies to eradicate discrimination based on race and religion and develop a culture of inclusiveness.
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