An elderly man aged 30 slumped down on his elbows in front of a group of MPs. He was reduced to a weeping wreck.
The image was distressing for even the strongest of hearts.
For those who have ties to professional cricket, Azeem Rafiq’s clumsy wiping away his tears while he described the racism he experienced at Yorkshire during his playing career should be troubling.
It’s time to take a step back and reflect about what has become of the game and its gentlemanly ideals.
Rafiq was forced to stop and think at several points in his report to the Digital, Culture, Media and Sport Committee.
The sight of Azeem Rasiq wiping out tears using his handkerchief while describing the racist abuse he sustained at Yorkshire during his career in cricket should have been troubling to anyone who has any connection to it, writes HENRY DEEDES
One particularly poignant moment required that the hearing be stopped for five minutes.
Sometimes it was difficult to hear his testimony and not snort. ‘P***’ had been a regular form of address.
It was his answer to Steve Brine (Con. Winchester), about his feelings if his kids followed him into the game that should send teacups rattle in pavilions across the country.
He stated unhesitatingly, “I don’t want my boy anywhere near cricket”,
Professional cricket has many similarities with its past, including warm sandwiches and cold beer at the boundary.
We know how bad modern players can play on the pitch thanks to microphones. In the dressing room, “strong characters” flourish. Sometimes,’strong characters” can be transliterated as ‘boorish Thugs’.
Rafiq’s picture of yesterday showed something much more sinister.
This was a story of young Asians being humiliated and excluded.
Gary Ballance from Yorkshire was the principal villain, which Rafiq called ‘Yorkshire through-and-through’.
Rafiq was forced to stop and think about his testimony to the Digital, Culture, Media and Sport Committee (DCMS). He said that he contemplated suicide after the treatments he received by his fellow teammates.
Senior players calling them ‘elephant washers’, and telling them to “go sit near the toilets” in the dressing area.
It is no surprise that so few minorities play at the highest level.
Rafiq recalled how his dreams of playing professional cricket were fulfilled as a young Muslim boy in Bradford. He was abused even as a teenager.
As a 15-year old, he recalled sitting in a clubhouse and being given red wine to his throat.
He began to drink to fit in. Julian Knight, the DCMS committee’s cricket-mad chairman (Con, Solihull), was seated opposite. He gasped openly, looking like an old fairground goldfish, and he opened his mouth.
Yorkshire was not expected to emerge as the Employer of the Year. However, some staff members sounded so sweet they would have made Brian Glover’s PE teacher in Kes seem like dear old Mr Chips.
Yorkshire was not expected to emerge as the Employer of the Year. However, some staff members sounded so sweet they would have made Brian Glover’s PE teacher in Kes seem like dear old Mr Chips.
Rafiq said that he was treated ‘inhumanly’ by the club after his wife had lost her unborn baby.
Rafiq claimed that Martyn, the director of cricket, took Rafiq aside to a meeting and ripped him apart.
Gary Ballance from Yorkshire was the principal villain, which Rafiq called ‘Yorkshire through-and-through’.
Well, not exactly. Ballance was 17 when he arrived from Zimbabwe via Harrow School’s scholarship.
It was said that he had an unsavory habit of calling any color person “Kevin”
Alex Hales, Balance’s England teammate from England, was apparently moved by this and named his black-haired dog Kevin.
Ballance has denied the allegation but admitted calling Rafiq a P***.
Hales was, as you may remember, kicked out of England after he failed a drug screening. Evidently, Hales was not concerned about maintaining the sport’s reputation at that time.
Rafiq, a husband and father of a child who died in the womb, said that the treatment received by the club was “inhuman” after his wife had lost the unborn baby.
There were a few good men. Jason Gillespie was Yorkshire’s old coach. Ex-England cricketer Matthew Hoggard rang Rafiq right after going public to apologize for the things he’d endured.
We were told that Joe Root is an England Test captain and has never used racist language.
However he claimed that Root had been involved in socialising on nights where he, Rafiq, was called ‘a P***.’
They accepted the evidence of their guest without hesitation. Damian Green (Con Ashford), who was asked about Rafiq’s return to the club following a spell playing for Derbyshire, made only the smallest of questions. Rafiq stated that he wasn’t under contract but needed to find a job.
Do you think racism is ruining your career? John Nicolson, SNP, Ochil asked the question. ‘Yes I do,’ Rafiq replied. “But, maybe this was what Rafiq meant.”
With a shrug of shoulders, the tears began to flow again.