I was not shocked by the abuse the ex-Yorkshire cricketer endured – it’s all too common. What’s different is that he’s now being believed
I spent some of the past summer at the Lord’s and Oval cricket grounds watching my beloved England and Pakistan play. When both teams play each other, I’m never going to be on the losing side. As is the case for many working-class British Asians, cricket has been part of my life since childhood, and a personal barometer for racism, classism, Islamophobia, identity and belonging. Remember Norman Tebbit’s infamous “cricket test”?
In July, while waiting for a friend at Lord’s, known as “the home of cricket”, a security guard looked me up and down while walking towards me: “You’re standing at the wrong gate. You’re here to work? You need to go through another entrance.” He tried to shoo me away.
