Yorkshire racism row: I felt humiliated, Azeem Rafiq tells panel

FORMER Yorkshire cricketer Azeem Rafiq on Tuesday (16) held back tears while telling a committee of British lawmakers that he felt “isolated and humiliated” by the racist treatment he got while playing for the club.

An independent report said the Pakistan-born player was a victim of “racial harassment and bullying” while Rafiq said he had even harboured thoughts of suicide because of his experience. The century-and-half-old county apologised but said that it would not take any disciplinary action against any staff, a decision which stunned many quarters and compelled the digital, culture, media and sport select committee to have a hearing, AFP reported.

“I felt isolated, humiliated at times,” the 30-year-old Rafiq, who had two periods at the club, told the committee.

The cricketer, who is a off-break bowler, said Yorkshire, one of England’s oldest and most successful county clubs, is not new to racism, the AFP report added.

“Pretty early on, me and other people from an Asian background... there were comments such as ‘you’ll sit over there near the toilets’, ‘elephant-washers’.

“The word Paki was used constantly. And there just seemed to be an acceptance in the institution from the leaders and no one ever stamped it out,” he said.

“All I wanted to do is play cricket and play for England and live my dream and live my family’s dream. In my first spell, I don’t really think I quite realised what it was. I think I was in denial,” Rafiq added.

The cricketer, who has played 39 first-class games, said he started taking medication due to his mental ill-health and left Yorkshire for the first time in 2014.

When he returned to the club, he said he felt supported by then Yorkshire coach Jason Gillespie but the situation worsened again when the former Australia fast bowler left the club.

“Jason left in 2016 and it just felt the temperature in the room had been turned up,” Rafiq, who is the first Asian to captain the county, said.

“You had Andrew Gale coming in as coach and Gary Ballance as captain. For the first time I started to see for what it was -- I felt isolated, humiliated at times. Constant use of the word ‘Paki’,” he said.