From Michael Vaughan to Alex Hales: List of high-profile players named by Azeem Rafiq in Yorkshire racism row

 | Updated: Nov 22, 2021, 06:50 AM IST

Here's a list of high-profile players named by Rafiq:

Azeem Rafiq

Former Yorkshire player Azeem Rafiq made serious allegations of institutional racism and bullying at the lay at the heart English county club. Rafiq, who was born in Pakistan and moved to England when he was 10 years old, sent shockwaves through the cricketing world with his allegations. 

He opened up about discrimination within the English game in a compelling testimony and even told the British lawmakers that he had lost his career to racism and even thought about taking his life.  

Here's a list of high-profile players named by Rafiq:

(Photograph:Twitter)

Andrew Gale

Andrew Gale, who is the former first-class cricketer and Yorkshire's first-team head coach, was suspended as part of an investigation into a tweet he sent in 2010. 

Gale, who was then club captain, sent a tweet containing an anti-Semitic slur and is accused of discrimination against and bullying of Rafiq. 

(Photograph:Reuters)

Martyn Moxon

Rafiq accused Martyn Moxon of systematic bullying and spoke of being "ripped to shreds" by former coach Moxon on the day he returned to training after the stillbirth of his son. 

Yorkshire had confirmed director of cricket, Martyn Moxon, who has faced calls to resign from Hutton, is absent from his role at the moment to a "stress related illness".

(Photograph:Reuters)

David Lloyd

Rafiq had identified David Lloyd as messaging others in the media and saying: "a clubhouse is the lifeblood of a club and Asian players don't go in there".

The renowned cricket commentator Lloyd apologised for making disparaging comments about Asian cricketers.

(Photograph:Twitter)
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Joe Root

The racism scandal embroiled current England skipper Joe Root, who went on the record and said that he never witnessed anything of a racist nature at Yorkshire. 

Rafiq said it was hurtful as Root had "been involved in a lot of the socialising" where he was called a 'P**I' (an-anti Semitic slur). 

Although, Rafiq said that Root was a 'good man' and the slurs and abuses were so common that he may well not have noticed. 

(Photograph:Reuters)

Jack Brooks

Jack Brooks was one of a number of players in former Yorkshire player Azeem Rafiq's testimony to the parliamentary Digital, Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) panel. 

Somerset County Cricket Club reprimanded Brooks over historical posts on social media which contained racist language and described his comments as "unacceptable". Somerset investigated two tweets sent in 2012, when Brooks played for Northamptonshire, as well as claims that he used the name "Steve" to refer to Cheteshwar Pujara when the Indian batsman was at Yorkshire.

(Photograph:Twitter)

Michael Vaughan

Former England captain Michael Vaughan was said to have told Rafiq and two other Asian players as they walked onto the field together that there were "too many of you lot, we need to do something about it". 

Vaughan denied the allegations but, in the aftermath, BBC dropped him from a radio show. 

(Photograph:Reuters)

Alex Hales

Rafiq, in the parliamentary select committee hearing, had revealed how former England batter Gary Ballance used the term 'Kevin' in a derogatory manner. "'Kevin' was something Gary used to describe anyone of colour in a very derogatory manner. It was an open secret in the England dressing room," Rafiq said. 

Rafiq said that Alex went on to name his dog Kevin because it was black, however, Hales denied there was "any racial connotation" in the name of his dog Kevin. 

(Photograph:Reuters)

Gary Ballance

Gary Ballance has been accused of making offensive terms such as "P***", "Raffa the Kaffir". Yorkshire batter Ballance said he regrets using racist language towards his former teammate Rafiq.

"It has been reported that I used a racial slur and, as I told the independent enquiry, I accept that I did so and I regret doing so," Ballance said in a statement.

"To be clear - I deeply regret some of the language I used in my younger years."

(Photograph:Twitter)