Testimony: Azeem Rafiq returned to give more evidence to Parliament on Tuesday
(Picture: PA)Former cricketer Azeem Rafiq has detailed the shocking “abuse, threats and attacks” aimed at him and his family in the year since his harrowing testimony on racism in the game, telling of how he has been “driven out of the country” over fears for his safety.
Rafiq returned to Parliament on Tuesday to again give evidence to a Digital, Culture, Media and Sport select committee, 13 months after his revelations on the racist abuse he suffered while playing for Yorkshire.
The 31-year-old, who has recently moved his immediate family to Pakistan and has at times required round-the-clock security protection, told MPs the sport is still “in denial” over the issue of racism.
“The last year has been pretty challenging,” Rafiq said. “The impact has been quite great on me and my family.
“My family have been the target of abuse, threats and attacks. Recently, at my family house there was a bloke in broad daylight who walked in and out of our garden on the phone before defecating. It looked all very planned.
“We had another incident where a man was circling late at night with what looked like a chain in his hand. If I look at 13 months on from pouring my heart out, all that’s changed is me and my family being driven out of the country.”
Rafiq said he had continued to be contacted by figures from across the game with their experiences of racism, including by one county coach who claimed his club’s director of cricket had mocked the Islamic celebration of Ramadan by raising a beer in his direction.
However, the former spinner said the environment created for would-be whistleblowers was continuing to discourage others from speaking publicly.
A number of individuals, as well as Yorkshire County Cricket Club, were charged by the ECB in relation to Rafiq’s allegations back in June, but the case is yet to be heard, largely owing to a dispute over whether proceedings will be allowed to play out in public.
Rafiq said the scandal has made it “evidently clear” that an independent body is needed to regulate on such matters.
“[The ECB] have a difficult citation where in one sense they’re a promoter and need to show the game in a good light but then you’ve got to regulate on things that don’t make the game look so good,” Rafiq added.
“The simple things like someone’s bowled a couple of beamers or got the wrong sized bat, they can deal with. But it’s become evidently clear that issues of this stature are something that an independent regulator needs to be brought in for.
“Structurally, even if they want to deal with stuff, the structure doesn’t allow them to and it always comes across that the victims are pushing and there’s always an excuse not to act.”
The committee also heard evidence from Lord Kamlesh Patel, who took over as Yorkshire chair in the wake of the scandal last year and was tasked with reforming a county on the brink of ruin after the withdrawal of several major sponsors and the stripping of international hosting rights by the ECB.
Lord Patel was critical of the ECB’s then leadership, accusing leading figures of a lack of support as he faced a backlash from former members of Yorkshire’s hierarchy during his attempts to impose changes in governance.
"Every time there’s an issue, every time people needed to stand up and support you, they didn’t,” he said. “That was sad because I was part of the ECB for five-and-a-half years, I was working with this individuals.
"If I was attacked in the press or if previous cricket leaders made unsubstantiated statements, nothing was done. I have email after email in which I’ve said: ‘You’ve asked me to do this, I’ve done this, so please support me’. I’ve had no response to any of those letters or emails. It’s been very distressing.
“I’m looking forward to the new leadership, the few meetings I’ve had with [new ECB chair] Richard Thompson have been positive and it seems like it’s moving forward. But up until these last 12 months, the answer has to be no [I haven’t felt supported].”
