I never felt any negative effect of the colour of my skin in cricket... but something changed in Britain after the Brexit vote four years ago and for the first time I experienced aggression and the feeling of not being welcome here
SAYS ENGLAND CRICKETER TER NOW PUNDIT MARK BUTCHERTCHER
As a black, mixed- race cricketer through the 1990s and 2000s his experiences in the game could have been painful, like it was at times for Phil DeFreitas or Devon Malcolm.
But not Butcher. He was lucky, his dad Alan was already a household name in cricket circles, as a player for Surrey, Glamorgan and briefly for England, when Mark was making his way at the Oval.
“I never felt any negative effect of the colour of my skin in the cricket world,” said Butcher, to date the only black man to have captained England in a Test match, against New Zealand in 1999.
“I was shielded from it simply because people knew I was the son of a professional cricketer.
“My name went before me, and the only experience of racism I had was in secondteam cricket from a character who abused everyone, but would put the word ‘ black’ in front when referring to me. I paid no attention. So my lived experience up until recently has been nothing like some of my black or Asian friends.” Recently?
Butcher said: “It has only been in the last four years when the atmosphere in the country has changed, post the Brexit vote, that I have ever felt any discomfort in public at all.
“Suddenly, I now understand where friends of mine have been coming from with their lived experience, the things that someone like Michael Carberry has been talking about have become much more real to me.
“I wasn’t shielded on public transport where no one knows who I am. I was just a bloke going about my business and I’ve experienced aggression and an unwelcomeness, something that I hadn’t really experienced at all before.”
Butcher might not have suffered much during his first career as a player, but when it is put to him that he too is a black sporting pioneer, he is too modest to accept it and prefers to shine a light elsewhere.
And it is in his second career as an engaging broadcaster on Sky Sports TV and talkSport radio he is helping to push the conversation forward by giving airtime to the stories of others.
“I’m reluctant to use the word ‘pioneer’ with the way things worked out for me,” he said. “The stories from the likes of Roland Butcher (no relation) and those that followed in the ’ 80s, are the pioneers.
“Guys getting hate letters playing for England, guys facing tough experiences at the hands of coaches and selectors.
“I suppose my role in it, if I have one, is that I can be a conduit and help articulate some of these stories in a sympathetic way.
“Of course, I’m very proud to have captained England, but the whole thing was a shambles when David Lloyd d left and before Duncan Fletcher tcher took over as coach!”
Butcher played 71 Tests for England, has commentated mmentated around the world and d produced brilliant features on ‘England In The ’90s’ and ‘Sir Viv v Richards’, and yet arguably his greatest talent is his third d career... music.
He has released two studio albums and several al EPs that reveal his quality as s a singer/ songwriter, with daughter Alita also joining in. .
“I literally am a jack ack of all trades and the master of none,” he e added. Check out t his song ‘Country’ ’ and you won’t t believe that either.
Suddenly I understand where friends have been coming from with their lived experience, the things someone like Michael Carberry has beeen talking about have become more real to me