Yorks star on racism allegations
Sutton Utd .......... 30 18 8 4 51 26 62 Hartlepool .......... 33 17 9 7 43 29 60 Torquay .............. 30 16 6 8 49 30 54 Stockport ........... 30 14 9 7 43 26 51 Notts County ...... 28 14 7 7 37 23 49 Chesterfield ........ 29 15 3 11 41 28 48 Wrexham ........... 30 13 8 9 40 29 47 FC Halifax ........... 29 12 8 9 45 35 44 Eastleigh ............ 30 11 10 9 35 31 43 Bromley ............. 30 11 9 10 45 42 42 Altrincham ......... 32 11 8 13 37 39 41 Boreham Wood ..30 9 13 8 35 31 40 Maidenhead U .... 27 11 6 10 41 39 39 Yeovil ................. 31 11 6 14 45 49 39 Solihull Moors .... 29 11 5 13 32 34 38 Aldershot ........... 30 11 5 14 38 44 38 Dag & Red .......... 30 10 7 13 29 38 37 Woking ............... 28 8 7 13 26 31 31 Weymouth ......... 30 8 6 16 33 44 30 Wealdstone ........ 30 8 6 16 36 62 30 King’s Lynn Tn ..... 28 6 6 16 33 58 24 Barnet ................ 28 3 4 21 21 67 13 Dover ................... 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
NATIONAL LGE SCORERS
(Bromley) ................... (Boreham Wood) ........... (Notts County) ..............
(Hartlepool) ............. (Yeovil) .......................... (Altrincham) .................
(Sutton Utd) ......... (Stockport County) ...............
(Maidenhead)... (Sutton Utd) .................... (Stockport County) .......... (Maidenhead Utd) ............ (Wrexham) .................
(Bromley) .................
(Chesterfield) .................... (Torquay) .......................
(Eastleigh) ................... (Hartlepool) ........................
(Eastleigh) .............. (Wealdstone) .................. (Eastleigh) ...........................
(Chesterfield) ................... 3 for Weymouth
(Aldershot) ............................
(Weymouth) ................. (Wealdstone) ................... (Torquay) .................................
(Dag & Red) .................. (Weymouth) .................. (Chesterfield) ....................... 5 for Wrexham
(FC Halifax) ......................... (Barnet) .................................
YORKSHIRE’S first British-Asian cricketer, Ajmal Shahzad, has responded to the racism allegations which have engulfed the county for the past six months, revealing he looks back on his Headingley days with fond memories and pride.
Shahzad earned his place in the county’s history books when he made his debut in 2004 and went on to represent England in one Test and 11 oneday internationals before moving on in 2012.
The 35-year-old, who recently joined Derbyshire as fast bowling coach, would go on to share the field with fellow British-born Asians such as Adil Rashid, Moin Ashraf, Ismail Dawood and Azeem Rafiq.
Rafiq last year claimed he was left feeling suicidal by his treatment at the club, alleging institutional racism.
The matter is currently under investigation by an independent law firm, with Yorkshire also appointing a subcommittee to review the findings.
Shahzad’s voice has been notably absent from the public discourse but, on the eve of the new domestic season, he said: “I know Azeem has said he experienced some unsavoury and unsettling times and I do feel for him – nobody should subjected to things like that – but my experiences at Yorkshire were always good, if truth be told.
“The people, the backroom staff, the environment were brilliant and I’ve still got very good friends from that time. I can only speak highly of Yorkshire and the guys who were involved in my time. If it wasn’t for them I wouldn’t be the man I am now and I wouldn’t be in the position I am now.
“I had to work very, very hard for my opportunity at Yorkshire and to get my first-team cap. To this day it’s the only cap that means the world to me, more so than my England cap. I worked extremely hard in a tough environment and that is why I went on to play for England.”
The off-field demographic across the 18 first-class counties remains unhealthily skewed, with Surrey’s Vikram Solanki becoming the first British Asian to win a head coach’s role when he was appointed less than a year ago and only a handful of other nonwhite individuals in high-performance positions.
Shahzad himself was close to being lost to the game after his early retirement at 32, flirting with a second career in accountancy and starting out in coaching with a part-time role at Ampleforth College earning little more than £10 a session after travel costs.
Eventually his perseverance paid off and, after cutting his teeth at Lord’s as head coach of MCC, he is back in the county game with Derbyshire and harbouring lofty ambitions of wearing the Three Lions again one day.
“I played the game to be the best I could be and to represent my country... I’d be lying if I said I hadn’t gone into coaching with the same idea - to be the best I can be and to represent my country,” he said.