I had a player urinate on my head from the hotel bedroom above
Yorkshire. He added: ‘Everyone in the Asian cricketing community has known Yorkshire County Cricket Club is racist, yet somehow they have been able to cunningly continue with their agenda.
‘There are many Asian cricketers like myself who have had their careers ruined, but have moved on and taken the treatment on the chin. I salute them all, as it can’t have been easy.’
Yorkshire are already under pressure after revelations that batsman Gary Ballance called his former team-mate Rafiq a ‘P***’ — an epithet the club concluded was part of ‘friendly and good-natured banter’. On Wednesday, Ballance apologised but not before sponsors began cutting ties with the county. Last night Ashes-winning captain Michael Vaughan revealed he was another of those accused by Rafiq, denying the claim that he said in 2009: ‘Too many of you lot, we need to do something about it’ in relation to the off spinner and other Asian team-mates.
The fresh claims by a second player against Yorkshire — which at this stage are only claims and have not yet been investigated — date back two decades and make for unpleasant reading.
The player said: ‘I experienced racism from fellow players both direct and indirect. Believe it or not, I had a player p*** on my head from the hotel bedroom above, as I was on the phone leaning out of my room window. Let alone the numerous racist comments both blatant and sly. The coach at the time said ignore it and that he would deal with it. They never did.’
In another story, the player said he overheard ‘senior players’ — both still involved at Yorkshire — talking about ‘how they “shagged a bird” in the hotel room who was on her period and made a mess, and all they could find is a Muslim player’s prayer mat to clean it up. Sick or what. These are supposed to be your team-mates and people I looked up to.’
The player is understood to have been emboldened to speak out by Rafiq’s whistleblowing, which will be the subject of a hearing by the digital, culture, media and sport select committee on November 16, though the pair never crossed paths in county cricket.
Yorkshire have apologised to Rafiq after an investigation into his claims of abuse upheld seven allegations. Yet another anecdote from the player makes claims of humiliating treatment at practice. ‘When catching balls during training, these “team-mates” would intentionally throw the ball so hard from close range that it used to bruise my hands through the gloves,’ he said. ‘I remember having to miss out on a final once due to this injury. The coaches
wouldn’t say a thing. I would have to toughen up, apparently.’ The statement went on: ‘I and others were used as a statistic. When people said Yorkshire were racist, their reply was: “How can we be — we have X amount of Asians on our books?”
‘I wasn’t given a single opportunity to play second XI cricket. How were they expecting my game to improve? Other white players were given chances in the second XI, and after failing initially, eventually they got used to the standard, which is what happens when playing with and against better players.’ After Sportsmail ran the allegations past Yorkshire, a spokesperson replied: ‘This behaviour would be completely unacceptable to the club. It goes without saying we will investigate thoroughly.’
Meanwhile, a peaceful ‘Justice for Azeem Rafiq’ gathering has been organised for tomorrow at 3pm outside Headingley by Mohammed Patel, a human-rights lawyer and founder of Heaven Help Us Cricket Club, which supports charitable causes.