Speaking to a parliamentary inquiry committee on November 16, the former Yorkshire cricketer said he found Root’s comments “strange”, adding that it reflects how normal the use of inappropriate remarks and language was at the club.
Root has been playing for Yorkshire since 2009. He had recently issued a statement in response to Rafiq’s painstaking case of facing indifferential treatment at the club. The modern-day batting great called for “change and actions” at the club and urged everyone to cultivate “a culture that harnesses a diverse environment with trust across all communities”.
However, when he was specifically asked to outline any incidents he may have come across on racism at the club, Root said he can’t “recall” any such mishaps. But was not in denial of Rafiq’s claims and that things did go wrong within the set-up in Headingley.
Rafiq, who was giving his testimony to the Digital, Culture, Media and Sport Select Committee hearing on a case related to player’s claims of institutional racism at Yorkshire, made it clear that Root “never engaged” in any racist remarks at him. But he stressed, it’s sad that he couldn’t see things for what they were around him.
“To be clear, Root is a good man. He’s never engaged in racist language. I found [his statement] hurtful, because Rooty was not only Gary’s (Gary Ballance) housemate but, before he started playing for England, he was involved in a lot of those socialising nights out where I’d been called a P**i,
“He might not remember it, but it just shows how normal it was in that environment, in that institution, that even a good man like him doesn’t see it for what it is.”
Rafiq was quoted as saying by ESPNcricinfo.
As hurt as he was at Root’s lack of know-how of racist incidents at the club, Rafiq was more critical of teammate Ballance, the out-of-favour England left-hander, who had faced the allegations on him by alluding to a long, friendly relation with the player. But Rafiq absolutely denied any such nature of their dual, stressing that their relationship in fact went downhill and became “toxic” from 2013 to 2017, when Ballance was made Yorkshire skipper.
In response to a query by committee chair Julian Knight MP, Rafiq confirmed the mention of the word “Kevin” in the Yorkshire report is actually a derogatory word that Ballance used frequently to describe the club’s non-white teammates.
“It was an open secret in the England dressing room. Anyone who came across Gary would know that was a phrase he would use to describe people of colour.”
he said.
Addressing another of his former teammates, Rafiq said Alex Hales is one of the players who picked up on the word “Kevin” and went on to name his dog the same because of its dark shades, which Rafiq said he found “disgusting”.
Rafiq, though, stressed it’s important not to make this a case about individuals but be treated as an opportunity to push for a positive change in Yorkshire and English cricket. He was referring to former England skipper Michael Vaughan, who denied Rafiq’s allegations of racist remarks in a column for The Telegraph. Vaughan, Rafiq said, was indulging in a direct poor remark, when he addressed the inclusion of four Asian players at the club by saying “there are too many of you lot”.
At the end of heartbreaking revelations at the hearing, Rafiq said the number of incidents he had to counter at Yorkshire definitely took a toll on him and his family. The player summed it all up, saying:
“Do I believe I lost my career to racism? Yes I do.”
