Recently, the Yorkshire cricket club was stained with racism attacks and claims made by one of its own players in Rafiq. Now after hearings and investigations before the Ashes series, the DCMS committee have released statements demanding English cricket to stop racism and end the chains that persist around England in some clubs.
Rafq also made comments after the release of statements saying, “All I wanted to do was play cricket and play cricket for England and live my dream and live my family’s dream,” Rafiq told the hearing. “Do I believe I lost my career to racism? Yes I do.”
“It is evident to us that there is a deep-seated issue of racism in cricket,” the report stated. “More pertinent, it is evident to Yorkshire Country Cricket Club and the England and Wales Cricket Board that there is an issue of racism in cricket.”
“We, like the minister, are watching closely and fully intend to ensure that cricket cleans up its act,” the report stated. “We recommend that the government ensures that any future public funds for cricket are dependent on continuous, demonstrable progress in getting rid of racism in both the dressing rooms and on the stands.”
“The powerful evidence given to this committee by Azeem Rafiq convinced us that his story was typical of an endemic problem across the whole of cricket,” Julian Knight, the DCMS chair, said. “We commend him for having the courage to blow the whistle on unacceptable and discriminatory behaviour.”