AFP, London :
English cricket is back in the firing line over racism in the game after “stereotypical” and “outdated” views were expressed about the reasons for a lack of interest in the game among Britain’s ethnic-minority communities.
Former Yorkshire player Azeem Rafiq delivered harrowing testimony to lawmakers in November in which he said his career had been ended by the abuse he received at the county club.
The Pakistan-born off-spinner, who had dreamed of playing for England, said cricket was blighted by institutional racism “up and down the country”.
The parliamentary Digital, Culture, Media and Sport committee issued a report earlier this month saying English cricket must root out “deep-seated” racism or face losing public money.
Lawmakers on the committee heard evidence from a number of chairmen of English county clubs during their latest session looking into the issue on Tuesday.
Middlesex chairman Mike O’Farrell appeared to offer generalisations about the reasons why individuals from the African-Caribbean and South Asian communities drifted away from the sport.
“The football and rugby world becomes much more attractive to the Afro-Caribbean community,” O’Farrell told the committee.
“In terms of the South Asian community… we’re finding that they do not want to commit necessarily the same time that is necessary to go to the next step because they prefer-not always saying they do it-they prefer to go into other educational fields where cricket becomes secondary.”
