Cricket must rise above racism or sink into the mire
IT’S A WATERSHED MOMENT FOR THE GAME
ENGLISH cricket is yet again in crisis as it faces up to the grim reality that racism in the game runs far deeper than a few historic tweets by an immature teenager.
The scandalous way that one of the most influential clubs has handled the allegations of harassment, bullying and racism within its doors highlights just how ingrained the problem is.
And when a sport such as cricket has a light shone on it in the most impassioned, articulate and easy-todigest way as it was by Michael Holding, below, 15 months ago, it is a disgrace not to listen, react, and even try to change for the better.
That is the approach Yorkshire Cricket Club appear to have taken in the way they have humiliated rather than helped their former player Azeem Rafiq after his claims against them.
Rafiq was ignored, rebuffed, rebuked and denied at every turn by Yorkshire in the hope that he would slip quietly away in frustration, but the stubborn, fighting character that he used to good effect for the club as a player has stood him in good stead to keep going.
And it looks as if he will soon get his chance to reveal the full extent of what he went through at the club when he gives evidence in front of the Government’s DCMS committee in less than two weeks.
But this is not just about Rafiq. Nor is it only about the individuals who he says used racist language towards him. This is about the system.
This is about an environment in a dressing room where players felt emboldened enough to use the language in the first place knowing that there would not be any sanction.
This is about a county where reports of racist language towards opposition players were made as recently as 2018 because a spectator felt comfortable enough in that crowd to shout out. This is about club cricket and stories on social media of racist language being used down the cricket pyramid and little being done thereafter.
It is about the lived experience of black and minority ethnic players who have endured varying levels of racism throughout their careers, and have had to simply get on with it.
But this cannot be the moment when cricket sinks ever further into the mire. This is a watershed moment from which the game can and must rise.
The ECB has its own sketchy past in this area, but it has the chance to lead with purpose to prevent people from turning their backs on the game. And while I question the motives of politicians who oversee the Windrush scandal on one hand and then preach about racism on the other, their involvement may well be beneficial.
Cricket needs a reset. It needs to clear out those who would allow Rafiq’s experiences to be left unchecked.
It needs to show that the moments of unity, the taking of knees, and the ‘zero-tolerance’ of discrimination actually mean something so that when the ECB next claims that cricket is a game for all, we can all buy into it with confidence that this is true.