Rafiq stated that he began medication because of his declining mental health. He left Yorkshire in 2014 for the first-time. Rafiq initially settled back in Yorkshire under Alex Lees, and Jason Gillespie.
Rafiq stated that Jason left the house in 2016, and the room felt like the temperatures had been raised. Andrew Gale came in as the coach and Gary Ballance became captain. The first time I began to understand what this was, I felt alone and humiliated. Constant use of the word ‘P***’.’
Rafiq stated that Ballance had harassed him racially during 2017’s pre-season tour. “We were at a location and Gary Ballance walks up to us and asks, “Why are you speaking to me?” You know he’s a P***’. This was in front team-mates. This was in front of the coaching staff.
Gary Ballance (pictured playing for England against South Africa in July 2017) is among the cricket stars accused of being racist between 2008 and 2018 by Rafiq
He added: ‘He would constantly talk down to me and make racist jokes, designed to undermine me and make me feel small, like coming up and interrupting when I was talking to girls in a club, saying ‘don’t talk to him, he’s a P***’. His constant racist taunting made me cry outside the nightclub.
“On bus rides, he would check out corner shops and comment like “does dad have these?” Gary often made these comments on YCCC [Yorkshire County Cricket Club] bus trips, in the dressing room, or at events — and in front of YCCC coaches, staff and management, including our coach, Andrew Gale, [the coach]Richard Pyrah was the director for cricket Martyn Molon. Dickie bird is the club president. However, nothing could be done or said to stop it. But they laughed along.
In a long statement, Ballance acknowledged using a “racial slur” towards Rafiq. He apologised but said it was part of their friendship. Rafiq stated to the committee that this was not a true representation of their relationship. He said it had gone downhill since 2013 and became toxic by 2017.
Rafiq also alleged former England batter Alex Hales was involved, saying: ‘Gary and Alex Hales got really close to each other when they played for England together. While I wasn’t there, I believe Alex gave his name to Kevin because his black dog. It is disgusting what a joke that was.
Alex Hales pictured with ex-girlfriend Danni Gisbourne, who dumped him over claims he had been unfaithful on a cricket tour
Rafiq was asked about Vaughan and said that Michael might not recall it. However, Adil, Rana, and myself all remember it.
“He evidently had just a little bit of my sentence. He used the Daily Telegraph platform to inform everyone that he didn’t say these words. My intention was to continue and share a small portion of my story and discuss other topics. I found this completely incorrect. Because it means nothing to him, he may not remember.
Rafiq makes claims regarding the behavior of the ex-England player. He said that among the’six to seven’ who made bullying complaints against him in 2017, he is one. He said that he was not one of the players of color.
He stated that Tim is Andrew’s. [Gale’s] brother-in-law. The two of them supported one another all the time. Tim would often tag along to Andrew’s racist comments, and the two of them bounced off one another in bullying. Tim, like Andrew, made many racist comments about me and was unnecessarily harsh to me when he compared white British players. It became so bad that I had to file a formal complaint against Tim in 2017.
Rafiq stated that Hoggy started to call me “Raffa the Kaffir”. Only later did I realize what “Kaffir” meant and how it was used. It was also a racist term. Comments from Hoggy towards myself and the other Asian players — Adil, Ajmal and Rana — were constant.
He might have believed it was dressing room banter. But, when we came in each morning, he would call us names like “you guys sit over there” and then make us sit together. He would also call us things like ‘elephant washers’ and ‘P***’. Rafiq claimed Matthew Hoggard apologized to him after he was interviewed about Yorkshire.
“I called Matthew, and he said that he didn’t realize, but I was really sorry.” It doesn’t matter if some of my comments caused you to feel how you described it. I’m sorry. What do you know? I always say, “Thanks, it was really appreciated.”
Rafiq claimed that Tim Bresnan was the one who bullied the star of 2017 and was also among the’six to seven’ members. Rafiq claimed Matthew Hoggard (right), had apologized to him following an interview about his experiences at Yorkshire
Rafiq claimed he was hurt by it. Root, England’s captain, stated that he’d never been exposed to anything racist at Yorkshire. Root said that he is a great man. Rafiq claimed that he did not use racist language.
‘I found it hurtful because Rooty was Gary (Ballance)’s housemate and had been involved in a lot of the socialising where I was called a ‘P***’. This shows just how common it is that even good men like Rooty don’t see the situation for what it really was. Joe is not affected, but it’s something that I think about every day.
Rafiq stated that there was denial, covering ups, covers-ups and smearing. He also said things like “The clubhouse is vital to a club, so Asian players shouldn’t be allowed in” and “getting subs from Asian players is like taking blood out of an old stone”.
“And then personally, this man doesn’t even have a clue about me. He hasn’t spent much time talking to me about my personal drinking and how I socialize. David Lloyd was a commentator, coach for England, and that I found disturbing. This was within a week after I had spoken out. It made me think, “God, there are some closet racists, we must do something about them.”
David Lloyd, Sky Cricket pundit and commentator has apologized after being named in the Azeem Rafiq racism storm.
Rafiq claimed Jack Brooks (a twice County Championship champion at Yorkshire) had begun the discourteous practice of calling India star Cheteshwar pujara, “Steve”, during an overseas stay at the club.