Racism echoes again in English cricket

English cricket is back in the firing line over racism in the game after “stereotypical” and “outdated” views were expressed about the reasons for a lack of interest in the game among Britain’s ethnic-minority communities.

Former Yorkshire player Azeem Rafiq delivered harrowing testimony to lawmakers in November, where he said his career had been ended by the abuse he received at the county club.

The Pakistan-born off-spinner, who had dreamed of playing for England, said cricket was blighted by institutional racism “up and down the country”.

The parliamentary Digital, Culture, Media and Sport committee issued a report earlier this month saying English cricket must root out “deep-seated” racism or face losing public money.

Lawmakers on the committee heard evidence from a number of chairmen of English county clubs during their latest session looking into the issue on Tuesday.

Middlesex chairman Mike O’Farrell appeared to offer generalisations about the reasons why individuals from the African-Caribbean and South Asian communities drifted away from the sport.

“The football and rugby world becomes much more attractive to the Afro-Caribbean community,” O’Farrell told the committee.

“In terms of the South Asian community… we’re finding that they do not want to commit necessarily the same time that is necessary to go to the next step because they prefer — not always saying they do it — they prefer to go into other educational fields where cricket becomes secondary.”

Cricket in ‘denial’ 

Rafiq said he was staggered by the remarks, believing they underline the problem the sport faces.

“I think today has shown everyone what I was talking about and how we have a long way to go,” he told the BBC. “Clearly the counties and the game are still very much in denial and that’s a big worry.”

He added that O’Farrell’s views on black and South Asian players were “a stereotypical way of trying to blame a minority group for why there is a problem in the game”.

Ebony Rainford-Brent, the first black woman to play for England and who is now director of women’s cricket at Surrey, tweeted: “These outdated views in the game are exactly why we are in this position.”

“Unfortunately the decision-makers hold onto these myths. ‘The black community only like football, and Asian community only interested in education’. Seriously, the game deserves better.”

The National Asian Cricket Council tweeted its disappointment with O’Farrell’s comments.

“Hugely disappointed with comments made today by Middlesex CCC chair Mike O’Farrell,” it said.

“It is clear that cricket still needs to do so much more to change the archaic and ill-informed viewpoints of people in influential positions.”

O’Farrell issued a statement apologising for any “hurt” his earlier remarks may have caused.

“I was aiming to make the point that as a game, cricket has failed a generation of young cricketers, in systematically failing to provide them with the same opportunities that other sports and sectors so successfully provide,” he said.

England and Wales Cricket Board chief executive Tom Harrison told MPs that former England captain Clare Connor would lead a promised review of dressing-room culture and that a new anti-discrimination unit would be up and running by the end of May.

What does the report say?

Earlier, British lawmakers maintained a stern stance in a report against racism and directed the relevant authorities to take some crucial steps to root out “deep-seated” racism or face losing public money.

The fallout for Yorkshire over the crisis has been devastating, with sponsors making a mass exodus and the club suspended from hosting lucrative international matches.

There has also been a mass clear-out at the club’s Headingley headquarters, with wholesale departures from the boardroom and coaching staff while a new chairman, Kamlesh Patel, has become the face of a fresh regime.

The parliamentary Digital, Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) committee, in its report, said cricket chiefs had to act decisively to rid the game of racism.

In the report, MPs pointed to the language used in correspondence with the committee and attempts to “discredit” Rafiq in the media as evidence that a “long and difficult road” lay ahead.

The lawmakers called on England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) to develop a set of key indicators and then provide updates to the committee every quarter on its progress, or face a cut to government funding.

“We are watching closely and fully intend to ensure that cricket cleans up its act,” the report said.

“We recommend that the government ensures that any future public funds for cricket are dependent on continuous, demonstrable progress in getting rid of racism in both the dressing rooms and on the stands.”

‘Endemic racism’ 

The committee paid tribute to Rafiq for “his conviction that this was not simply a personal issue but an endemic problem across the whole of cricket”.

MPs set up the inquiry after Yorkshire announced there would be no disciplinary action taken against any individual despite an investigation concluding that Rafiq had experienced bullying and racial harassment during his stints at the county.

Former players from Yorkshire and other counties have also said they faced racist abuse and an independent commission looking at discrimination in cricket has been inundated with calls.

Sports minister Nigel Huddleston told the committee in November he was prepared to deploy the “nuclear option” of an independent regulator if the ECB failed to get its house in order.

Later that month, the ECB published a 12-point game-wide plan to tackle discrimination, with under-fire chief executive Tom Harrison saying an “earthquake” had hit the sport.

Rafiq welcomed the report, saying it showed how seriously politicians were taking the issue and he said he was impressed with changes at Yorkshire under Patel.

But he was less convinced about how seriously the wider game was on tackling racism.

“I see Yorkshire trying to do the right thing, but I do feel like the game as a whole is still living in a lot of denial,” he told the BBC.

“I think the ECB needs to do more. I would say putting an action plan on a document, we’ve seen all that before. We need to see more action.”

DCMS committee chairman Julian Knight told the PA news agency that “the jury is out” on the ECB and Harrison.

Knight said the committee would push for independent regulation of the sport if it was dissatisfied with the progress the ECB was making on the issue.

Harrison said he welcomed parliamentary scrutiny and wanted cricket to become the “exemplar” for others to follow.

“We have the opportunity to come out of this crisis with a roadmap that demonstrates that first of all, we are absolutely serious about tackling discrimination in our sport — not just racism — and that we can come together as a game and do that as a partnership,” he said.

Yorkshire could still face further punishment as a result of an ongoing ECB investigation into how it dealt with Rafiq’s complaints.