Former Essex cricketer reveals being referred as 'bomber' by teammates after 9/11 attacks

Racism has been one of the most unfortunate issues existing in the cricketing arena. Over the years, there have many cases of racism in the cricketing world. A recent example is the case of a former Essex cricketer.

There have been several claims of racism by, and against several cricketers who are or were, playing county cricket. This resulted in severe unrest among cricket fans across the globe. Several big names voiced their opinions regarding the same as well.

Recently, Essex reached out to one of their former players, who was racially abused. It is believed that he was a victim of racism too. This former player happens to be Zoheb Sharif.

In what comes as a shocking revelation, the former Essex player said that he was called “Bomber” the day after the 9/11 attacks. The 38-year-old, whose parents come from Pakistan, also said that he was called “Curry Muncher”. While speaking to The Mirror Zoheb Sharif said:

“It was a day after the September 11 attacks. People started calling me Bomber. It was normal to be called ‘curry muncher”. he said.

Former Essex player opens up on his traumatic experiences in the club

“As a Muslim, I’d find a quiet outfield corner to pray. A senior player told me “it looks bad”. So I prayed in my car.” said the former left-handed batter.

“I didn’t say anything at the time. I was a teenager in a dressing room with big characters. To them it was banter. To me, it wasn’t, but you don’t want to do anything to block your chance of getting into the first team.” said the former batsman.

Zoheb Sharif Also revealed how Azeem Rafiq’s statements on the racism allegations were quite similar to his story. He said that he wanted to be in the first team and thus, kept quiet at that time.

This allegation comes just two days after John Faragher, the Essex chairman resigned over an allegation that he used an inappropriate racial language during a board meeting in 2017. John Stephenson, the former Essex batter and current chief executive came in support of Sharif. “We applaud his bravery and courage for speaking out on such a sensitive issue after all these years.” said John Stephenson.