Cricket star Haq: I’m glad I quit race row club
Ex-Prestwick player blasts ‘lenient’ bans
CRICKET star Majid Haq has told how he is glad he “cut ties” with a club at the centre of a racism storm.
The ex-Scotland player left Prestwick Cricket Club just weeks before it emerged three of its members were banned over claims they used racist slurs.
Bowler Haq left the Ayrshire club just before the conclusion of an investigation into the conduct of their scorer Graeme Hay and two other members.
Hay, 37, called club president Shahzad Rafiq, 36, a “P*** b ****** ” in front of witnesses at the club AGM.
He was given an eight-month ban along with two other men. The punishment will be reduced to four months if they agree to take part in a inclusion course.
Haq, who left the club at the end of last season, said: “I cut my ties with Prestwick before this blew up and I’m glad that happened.
“I wouldn’t feel comfortable playing at Prestwick when the level of racism is like this.
“I think what is happening there is consistent with some clubs away from the big cities and towns, where these terrible old attitudes to race can exist and can go unchallenged for years.”
Scottish cricket is undergoing a major review after former international players Haq and
Qasim Sheikh claimed they suffered abuse.
Haq represented Scotland on more than 200 occasions but did not play again after being sent home from the 2015 World Cup.
His allegations of racism will be reviewed by a Cricket Scotland board this month. He criticised the “lenient” punishment handed to the three men at Prestwick.
Haq said: “My own view is that a four-month ban is meaningless if it means the people involved will be back in the fold before the season even starts.”
Sportscotland has commissioned a review of racism in cricket.