Racist behaviour does not occur in a vacuum, and the ultimate lesson here is how many of our structures are indicted
The allegations of systematic racism made against Yorkshire County Cricket Club by Azeem Rafiq first surfaced in August 2020. Rafiq gave a wide-ranging interview to the Wisden journalist Taha Hashim, ostensibly about his work providing free meals for key workers during the pandemic. But he also spoke about the racism he experienced at Yorkshire, including an “openly racist” captain, a dressing room in which racist comments were regarded as humorous, and a culture in which complaints about racist behaviour were ignored and turned against him.
Yorkshire refused to comment. And you wonder, 15 months on, how they might reflect on that decision after a week that has seen English cricket’s most successful county and best-known club ripped apart, deserted by sponsors, banned from hosting international cricket and facing financial implosion. Perhaps, on balance, they should probably have said a little something. It might have saved them a good deal of strife in the long run.
