Cricketer Azeem Rafiq has told MPs he felt “isolated, humiliated at times” due to the bombardment of racism he suffered and the “constant uses of the word p***'” during his time at Yorkshire County Cricket Club.
The 30-year-old whistleblower had said it was “time for truths” as he prepared for the Digital, Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) select committee hearing in Westminster.
Rafiq, who has been involved in the cricket set-up in Yorkshire since the age of 11, talked openly and candidly to MPs, telling them: “Pretty early on at the club I joined a dressing room full of my heroes. Michael Vaughan, Matthew Hoggard, part of the 2005 Ashes team. And it was just the most surreal moment for me.
“Me and other people from other Asian backgrounds… there were comments such as ‘you’ll sit over there near the toilets’, ‘elephant washers’… and there seemed to be an acceptance in the institution. No one really stamped it out.”
Azeem Rafiq gives evidence to MPs at racism hearing – follow live
“In my first spell I think I was in denial. I looked the other way. Towards the end of my first spell, I knew there was something wrong, but couldn’t put my finger on it.”
He added that he felt there was a change at the club when returning for his second spell. He initially felt settled under captain Alex Lees and coach Jason Gillespie.
Rafiq said the “temperature changed” in 2016. “You had Andrew Gale coming in as coach and Gary Ballance as captain”.
“For the first time I started to see for what it was – I felt isolated, humiliated at times, constant uses of the word ‘p***’.”
The former all-rounder and ex-England U-19s and Yorkshire captain has the protection of parliamentary privilege while giving evidence to MPs – meaning he is free to name names without worrying about legal reprisals.
Ballance admitted using a “racial slur” towards Rafiq in a lengthy statement issued earlier this month, apologising but framing it as part of a long and deep friendship.
Rafiq told the committee that was not an accurate depiction of their relationship, saying it went downhill from 2013 onwards and had become toxic by 2017.
“Kevin was a something Gary used to describe anyone of colour in a very derogatory manner. It was an open secret in the England dressing room,” he said.
“Anyone who came across Gary would know that was a phrase he would use to describe people of colour.”
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Rafiq, who played two spells at Headingley between 2008 and 2018, initially voiced his claims in an interview with Sky News in September 2020, alleging “deep rooted” racism at the club left him close to taking his own life.
Yorkshire County Cricket Club launched a formal investigation and concluded he was the victim of “racial harassment and bullying” but nobody at the club faced disciplinary action.
A leaked report suggested that the use of “the P word” towards Rafiq was made in the context of “friendly banter”.
Rafiq’s emotional and shocking testimony continued as he fought back tears and told the committee about the loss of his baby son, describing the club’s treatment of him at this time as “inhuman”.
“They weren’t really bothered that I was training one day and I got a phone call to say that there was no heartbeat,” he said.
The panel also heard of a time he was “pinned down” by a cricketer and forced to drink red wine at the age of 15.
“All I wanted to do is play cricket and play for England and live my dream and live my family’s dream,” he said, but he left Yorkshire for the first time in 2014 after he started taking medication for his deteriorating mental health.
Asked why he returned to YCCC for a second spell, he said he was in a position where putting food on the table was really difficult, “but more importantly I think I was in denial – right up to 2017”.
But it was after the loss of his child he said he realised he couldn’t “look the other way”.
The club’s full report into the Rafiq’s allegations has never been published, and its handling of the case and inaction has prompted widespread criticism.
It has been stripped of its right to host international cricket, there has been a mass exodus of sponsors and growing political pressure from Westminster – with Health Secretary Sajid Javid saying “heads should roll”.
Last week, Rafiq, who was born in Pakistan and moved to England when he was 10, agreed a financial settlement with his old club.