Azeem Rafiq has accused senior county leaders of dragging their feet instead of opening their arms in cricket’s push for diversity, saying he has been angered and frustrated by the continuing “resistance to anything that goes away from the status quo”, and that “it is becoming abundantly clear that the county system doesn’t want to welcome everyone”.
Rafiq’s stinging evidence to parliament’s digital, culture, media and sport select committee last November, describing his experiences of discrimination, was followed soon after by publication of the ECB’s equity, diversity and inclusion plan. But the 31-year-old does not believe there has been sufficient action in the months since, and the Guardian revealed last week that county chairs are now seeking to exert more power over the game, including a return to having two ringfenced seats on the ECB board.
