Women add their voices to cricket’s racism scandal
Two of Scotland’s Muslim cricketers who have faced abuse say the game they love must change, writes Um-e-aymen Babar
Abtaha Maqsood is one of Scotland’s most promising spin bowlers. But as the 23-year-old took to the pitch in the Hundred last summer, Britain’s first hijabi cricketer faced a deluge of abuse on social media. “People commented, saying, ‘There’s a terrorist on the field’,” she says. “It was such a shame that I had to read these things.”
The Hundred was intended to launch a new era, an inclusive cricket format that marked a sharp change in direction for the game. But as Maqsood shares her experiences of racial abuse and micro aggressions in the sport, it is like being transported back in time. Listening to her describe life as a Muslim in a team environment is a sobering experience. “There’s been times I’ve been mistaken for another Pakistani cricketer who also wears a hijab,” she says. “There’s been jokes made about us and comments that go over the line being passed off as ‘banter’.”
Despite her experiences of racism in the game, this week’s damning review by Plan4sport that found Cricket Scotland to be institutionally racist was still difficult for Maqsood to process. “I knew that it was going to be bad, but I was very shocked at just how bad it was. I’m really upset to be honest. It was a tough day and I felt empty knowing that I was part of an organisation where things like this are happening and nothing was being done about it.
“It’s sad that people have had to suffer in silence. It’s insulting that things like this have happened within a Cricket Scotland environment. I’ve spoken to everyone here about it and we have cleared the air. The women’s team in particular are very open to change but things like that have happened which have had to be brought up.”
By contrast, when the Azeem Rafiq racism scandal broke last year, the Sunrisers player was heartened to receive support from her national team. “We had a really honest and open conversation about race and about how we as South Asian cricketers feel when we’re part of a team,” Maqsood says. “Everyone listened and asked questions and it was a nice environment that was created. I feel like that’s something most teams should actually do, just sit and talk.
“It’s tough to change people’s mindsets when they’ve lived like this for so long. People need to keep asking questions, being curious in a respectful way. My team-mates are very open to asking questions about my religion and that has brought us all closer. The board resignations might clear a way for a more diverse group of people to take over and hopefully whoever comes next is open to education and change.”
Making the female game more accessible has, for too long, focused on white women’s experiences
– overlooking factors such as race and class that impact the South Asian community. There are currently no South Asian women playing for England, while recent figures from the England and Wales
Cricket Board reveal that across regional cricket there are only five South Asian women players, and in 2020-21, in the county age group, only seven per cent were South Asian.
While some South Asian families traditionally may not have encouraged women and girls to play cricket, Maqsood’s childhood was different. “My dad is a massive supporter and he thinks that everyone should do sport to stay active and he said that to me and my brothers.” It was cricket, then, not family, that presented the barriers for a young Muslim girl to play. “When I was younger, I never really thought it was anything different. It was my choice to wear a hijab and when I’m playing cricket I’ve never felt uncomfortable. I did get quite a lot of stares. I don’t know if that was because I was the only girl, the only Muslim, or wearing a hijab. It was all three things put together.”
The popularity of the game in Pakistan is a reminder for Maqsood of the potential among the diaspora. “We love to play cricket, so I’m sure that there’s far more South Asian girls out there who love it but just don’t know where to go.” She hopes it will translate into a stream of new stars – should the sport commit to creating the opportunities.
As a hijabi cricketer for Scotland, Ikra Farooq has faced a similarly alarming amount of Islamophobia. “We get it all the time online with people discriminating against you, saying, ‘The game should go back to how it previously was. Go back to your own country’. The women’s squad has been supportive but there needs to be more improvements. For example, we’ve turned up to games and not had the option for halal meat and we would have to go for a vegetable diet on tour and at our club cricket.”
The 23-year-old was shocked at the findings of the Scottish review. “What we find in a lot of these situations is a lot of talk around strategic plans and equality, diversity and inclusion plans that come out, but it’s a matter of how we implement those plans. We can’t just have a report out there, you need to have people engaging and learning. The main thing we need to do is teach those who are willing to learn and make sure there is a hard process, that the individuals that you’re hiring are open and willing to learn about other cultures.”
In response to Maqsood and Farooq’s allegations, a spokesperson for Cricket Scotland said: “We completely agree that these experiences are wholly unacceptable and we are sorry our players have faced this. We know from the Changing the Boundaries report that the culture that has prevailed has not been wholly inclusive and that is something we are working to address as a matter of urgency.”