British MPs will today hear evidence from two high-profile cricket administrators, including the England and Wales Cricket Board’s chairman Azeem Rafiq who was racially abused. Roger Hutton, former head of sport for Yorkshire County Council has also agreed to speak to MPs.
Azeem Rafiq led Yorkshire in 2012 after playing for the county from 2008 to 2018.
On Tuesday, Azeem Rafiq, a former Yorkshire player, and Roger Hutton, the county’s former chairman, will testify before the Digital, Culture, Media and Sport select committee.
Rafiq will testify before MPs after a probe revealed he was a victim of “racial abuse and bullying,” but the club has said that no one would be punished.
Hutton, who resigned as chair on 5 November after saying “nobody at Yorkshire was racist,” would address questions about Yorkshire’s handling of the matter.
Tom Harrison, the England and Wales Cricket Board’s (ECB) chief executive, will also testify about the ECB’s participation in the racism issue, its complaints mechanism, and the game’s broader ramifications.
Due to bad health, ECB chairman Barry O’Brien has withdrawn. Senior cricket director Alan Dickinson, director of communications Kate Miller, and director of legal and ethics Meena Botros will also be present from the ECB.
Former Yorkshire chief executive Mark Arthur, who quit last week, was anticipated to attend, but his name isn’t on the list, while director of cricket Martyn Moxon is now on sick leave due to a “stress-related illness.”
When is it going to happen?
On Tuesday, November 16th, at 09:30 GMT, the hearing will begin. Rafiq will testify first, at 10:15 a.m., followed by Hutton and Harrison at 11:15 a.m.
It will take held at The Wilson Room of Portcullis House, a Westminster office building.
What might go wrong?
People providing testimony to a committee hearing, as well as the MPs who attend, are granted parliamentary privilege, allowing them to speak freely without fear of civil or criminal punishment.
As a result, we may learn more about Rafiq’s assertions, including the identities of the persons who are the subject of his complaints.
Although the whole report has not been made public, it has been submitted to the committee in preparation for the hearing.
Lord Patel, the new chairman of Yorkshire, said he “welcomes” the meeting and “will be listening with great interest to assist us understand the past and solve the numerous difficulties that have emerged.”
What is causing this?
The government was dissatisfied with Yorkshire’s handling of the probe and the delay in sharing the complete findings with Rafiq and the ECB, therefore the committee hearing was arranged.
Following an initial interview with Wisden in September 2020, Rafiq, who played for Yorkshire from 2008 to 2018 after moving to England from Pakistan at the age of ten, claimed ESPN Cricinfoexternal-link that “institutional prejudice” he witnessed while at the club drove him to contemplate suicide.
He told Sport that he hated “every second” of his career, and that one of his teammates used a racially derogatory slur because of his Pakistani ancestry.
Yorkshire began a formal investigation into Rafiq’s allegations in September 2020, and Hutton stated that the club would conduct a “wider review” of its “policies and culture.”
Yorkshire recognized Rafiq was “the victim of improper behavior” – which Rafiq said was downplaying racism – and gave him their “deep apologies” three days after receiving the results of the independent study conducted by law firm Squire Patton Boggs.
Rafiq was a “victim of racial harassment and bullying,” according to the report summary, with seven of the 43 complaints confirmed, however the club stated it couldn’t disclose the complete report due to legal concerns. They said there was insufficient evidence to show the club was racist on a systemic level.
Rafiq questioned the severity of the sanctions meted out to former players and a coach found guilty of using racist comments. He also questioned the investigation’s legitimacy.
According to ESPN, the study decided that a racially derogatory phrase used against Rafiq was considered “banter.”
The head of the DCMS select committee, Julian Knight, described it as “one of the most repulsive and sickening instances in contemporary cricket history.”
Knight’s remarks come after Health Secretary Sajid Javid called for “heads to roll” at Yorkshire, claiming that the ECB was “not fit for purpose” if it did not act. In a Twitter tweet, he also indicated that the phrase used to characterize Rafiq was “not banter.”
I’m not sure how I’m going to keep up with it.
The hearing will be streamed liveexternal-link, and updates will be provided in real time through the Sport website and app.
