ECB urged to go tougher on racism

Pakistan-born Sussex spinner subjected to abuse in English county match

An anti-racism campaigner has called on the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) to get tougher on abuse after Somerset bowler Craig Overton was only given a two-match ban for allegedly telling a Pakistan-born opponent to “go back to your own f***ing country”.

Overton was found guilty of a level-one breach, the lowest of four ECB directives, for comments he was heard making to Sussex spinner Ashar Zaidi in an English County Championship match at Hove in September.

Both umpire Alex Wharf and Sussex’s non-striking batsman Michael Yardy said they heard Overton’s abuse 34-year-old.

It was reported that Wharf included this in his report, with Yardy giving a written statement in support.

Zaidi, who was playing for Sussex on his British passport before being released by the club at the end of the season, told the match officials he had not heard anything beyond the “usual” comments that did not upset him.

Overton denied saying the words, but Kick It Out chairman Lord Herman Ouseley believes the punishment by the Cricket Discipline Commission (CDC), an independent arm of the ECB, does not fit the offence.

“My personal view would be that it seems quite outrageous; that the punishment does not fit the offence. It’s not only serious abuse and misconduct, it is clearly racially offensive,” he told the Guardian.

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