Anti-semitism could ruin Rafiq’s standing as voice for the voiceless
⮞ Accuser being caught out by past behaviour is damaging twist to revelations that have so far been greeted by silence
Three days have passed since Azeem Rafiq’s explosive testimony blew open English cricket’s racism crisis, but it has been greeted only by silence, denials or apologies from the game’s non-asian majority.
It has shone a light on a worrying division along colour lines in English cricket that could take a long time, and a lot of work, to repair.
Not one current senior white player or coach from the England set-up or county team has expressed an opinion on Rafiq’s evidence, performance in front of the Department for Culture, Media and Sport select committee, or his allegations about the culture of dressing rooms.
Instead, the gap has been filled by Asian or black cricketing figures backing up Rafiq and thanking him for exposing cricket’s race issue.
Players are scared, counties are small operations in the middle of a storm way beyond their understanding, and senior executives at the England and Wales Cricket Board could lose their jobs today. Just as cricket needs unity and direction, it is engaging in a damaging civil war that could end in a coup that topples Tom Harrison when the ECB chief executive leads a meeting with the counties at the Oval this morning. This is an ever-changing story, too. It took an unexpected twist yesterday when Rafiq’s own discriminatory, anti-semitic remarks were made public for the first time. He apologised quickly and tweeted last night, “at no point will I ever try and defend the indefensible. For those I have hurt, I am sincerely sorry. I will continue to front up & own any more mistakes I have made.”
He was trying to pre-empt any further revelations of his past behaviour that could emerge and damage his standing as a voice for the voiceless that he promised to be when speaking to MPS. He has indulged in the same discriminatory language, long ago like some of those offering profuse apologies this week, and shown that dressing rooms have many dark secrets threatening to spill out now the door has been unlocked.
Rafiq’s compelling witness testimony was followed by a string of
Just as cricket needs unity and direction, it is engaging in a damaging civil war
‘If you have witnessed it, you are almost as guilty because you have refused to do anything’
broadcast interviews, including a 10-minute slot at 8am on BBC Radio’s Today programme aired yesterday, an unheard of level of exposure for a cricket issue.
This is something that goes beyond the sport, but a story that began 18 months ago with an interview published on the Wisden website has mushroomed into cricket’s biggest crisis and yesterday attracted comment from the Prime Minister. Despite all this, nothing has emanated from the England team in Queensland, despite Rafiq’s finger pointing in his evidence on Tuesday. Even Alastair Cook, who has not played for England for three years, was urged yesterday to break his silence over the racism scandal at his beloved Essex after the club were hit by allegations culminating in former bowler Maurice Chambers saying he was called a “f-----monkey”. Cook was also a member of an England dressing room where Rafiq said this week it was an “open secret” that “Kevin” was used as a name for non-white people.
“Silence is not a defence. It will come out eventually and it’s far better to come forward now. Let’s deal with this so that we can all start to rebuild,” Clive Efford MP, the former shadow sports minister and a member of the DCMS committee which heard Rafiq’s testimony on Tuesday, said. “If people think that saying, ‘I’ve not heard anything’, is going to continue to be a defence when we’ve clearly seen how extensive the matter-of-fact use of racist terms was, they need to think again.
“If you’ve witnessed it – OK, you’re not the perpetrator – you’re almost as guilty because you’ve refused to do anything.
“More importantly, now it’s already out in the open, you’re still remaining silent.”