AT times during 2022, Azeem Rafiq told the GG2 Power List, the former Yorkshire cricketer wondered “God, am I dreaming this?” And when you hear his story for the past 12 months, you begin to wonder how he had the strength to continue his campaign for social justice.
Rafiq cause a storm in English cricket when he appeared before the sport culture select committee in November 2021. His testimony was not new. Rafiq had complained about racism and bullying at Yorkshire Cricket Club since August 2020. It was raw emotion at times.
An inquiry found that its former captain was the "victim of racial harassment and bullying", upholding several of his complaints.
Fast forward almost two years, and the Pakistani-born cricketer is still facing the consequences of his brave testimony, as former chair of the club, Lord Patel, described it.
He currently lives away from his home in England. The Power List knows the location but is not revealing it. Rafiq explained why he was forced to leave.
“I got hounded by sections of the press. And, the constant abuse and attacks just got me to a point where I didn't feel like I could guarantee the safety of my family. The police definitely couldn't guarantee my safety, which led to 24/7 security. At that stage I felt in my head that I was waiting for something really bad to happen. Then the last incident, that tipped it over the edge. It was a guy defecating in our back garden, and in broad daylight. You can see clearly on CCTV, clear photos, and to this day the police have still not been able to identify him. So, it's been a difficult 12 months.”
But there were other moments when the past year was genuinely uplifting.
“There's a lot of good people out there. Being invited to the GG2 Awards. The honour that I was given that night from the Solanki family [owners of Asian Media Group], speaking the way they did on the stage. I got to meet some wonderful people from our communities. And to get the honour to be on the Power List as well, which in itself, was something of a pinch me moment. Look, it's been a mixture at both ends, but I think the general feeling is that it’s quite sad that I’ve had to take such a big step.”
To understand Rafiq’s angst, we must consider what he has been through since he publicly outed the club as institutionally racist.
His evidence to the select committee fed into the long running independent Commission for Equity in Cricket inquiry.
His words had an avalanche of ramifications. It led to many resignations at the club. Sponsors pulled out. Yorkshire became the focus of further investigations by England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB).
The club released a statement saying the former player was "the victim of inappropriate behaviour", as the club offered "profound apologies" when some of the findings of the so-called independent report came out. It said that due to legal constraints it could not release the finding of the report in full.
Rafiq criticised the statement, and in an interview said Yorkshire had downplayed racism by labelling it as "inappropriate behaviour".
He told the Power List that since his revelation, little has happened.
“Nothing's changed. Absolutely, nothing's changed,” he said. “The system can try and gloss over with data, the system can try and gloss over with marketing, the system can try and gloss over with PR quite frankly. As I said several times, they can mug off a lot of people, they ain’t gonna mug me off. And I feel like the inquiry, which by the way, was set up before I spoke out, that was supposed to be out in October, then November, then December, January. I am not criticising the commission itself. But it’s not just me. There's a lot of people that built up the courage to speak out. There's over 4000 people that spoke to the commission. Their lives are on hold. If that if the inquiry had finished and completed by October, I might not have had to move countries.”
Almost immediately after his testimony to MPs, it emerged that Rafiq had made anti-Semitic remarks on social media when he was younger. The player apologised immediately and unequivocally said what he did was wrong. But it is a stick with which his critics beat him.
“The Jewish community were brilliant, and I'm very thankful to them. They invited me in. I got the honour of being a candlelighter at the Anne Frank annual anniversary lunch. I met a Holocaust survivor, which is the first time I knew anything about the Holocaust. I then went on another journey, and I wanted to go to Auschwitz, which I got the opportunity to do. It's so tough, so confronting, but I got to spend time with people who were strangers at start of the week, and arguably, some of them have become friends for life. I now try and encourage people to visit Auschwitz.
“I've got good relationships with quite a few people within the Jewish community. But for people that don't want to forgive me, that's fine. For Jewish people that don't want to forgive me, that's fine because it's not for me to decide when my apology’s accepted. I know I've hurt people, so it's for them to decide when they when they accept that, and that's fine. I will continue on my journey, and hopefully what I can do is bring two communities together that are very similar in a lot of ways and face similar challenges.”
Rafiq played for Yorkshire in two stints between 2008 and 2014 and 2016 and 2018, after making his senior debut at the age of 17. He captained the England under-15 and under-19 sides, and in 2012 became the youngest player to captain a Yorkshire side as well as the first person of Asian origin to do so.
He was born in Karachi, Pakistan, in 1991, and he moved to England in 2001. He grew up in Barnsley in South Yorkshire and attended Holgate School and played cricket for Barnsley Cricket Club and for Yorkshire schools sides.
So, when does he expect to return to the UK?
“My plan was to be out of the UK for six to 12 months. With what's coming ahead, who knows? Look, ultimately home is the UK. I've got my siblings there. My parents health is not great, so it's not sustainable to be here full time for them as well, so there's a lot of uncertainties around that. I make no bones about it, I feel I've got a responsibility. A lot of people still get in touch with me, whether that's from cricket or other organisations and institutions. I intend to make sure that the system and people within sport, not just cricket, are challenged. Everyone must have fair opportunities. I don't want my kids to enter environments where they have to be three times better just to get a chance. That's institutional racism straight there. Even the people who say, oh it's not racist, well if you have to be three times better just because of the colour of your skin than it is racist.”
We can expect more revelations in his memoir which had the working title It’s Not Banter. It’s Racism, which he is currently writing while in enforced exile. The publication is likely to be this summer. When asked if south Asian communities should bear some responsibility for his torrid experiences at Yorkshire, Rafiq is clear.
“The system knows how to divide and rule, and unfortunately we seem to have continued to try and play that game. As a community it's what's in it for me type thing, and we've got to get away from that, we've got to come together. If we want our respect, then we've got to come together, we got to support each other, and we've got to get our respect. It's not going to be handed to us.”
Rafiq told his first DCMS select committee hearing that he did not want his son to follow him into cricket. He told the Power List that he would like to continue to contribute to the sport he has given much of his life to. So, if the ECB asked him to help it rid the sport of racism, would he help?
“Look, I want to help, but it's got to be on my terms. When I spoke out, I said I would never, ever, put myself in an environment that doesn't value me for who I am. I'm going to be the person going out there telling the world how great things are when they’re not. Ultimately, what it will be is the ECB being transparent and going see what we're doing. And I'm not sure that they're ready for that.”
