Reports: England cricket receives over 1000 complaints of discrimination in past week

England scanner has been under the scanner lately with allegations of racial slurs being the talk of the town. The saga started with former Yorkshire cricketer Azeem Rafiq detailing the horrifying accounts of abuse he suffered during his time as a player. Rafiq also revealed that former England captain Michael Vaughan had once counted the number of Asian players in the team before a match and said: “there are too many of you”.

His voice was echoed with other Asia-based County cricketers including Rana Naved-ul-Hasan and Adil Rashid. As per the latest development, many cricketers in England have come forward and revealed the racial injustice they suffered. In fact, more than 1000 complaints of discrimination in English cricket have been made by whistleblowers in the last week.

The major report was carried by The Telegraph. As the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) are known for their no tolerance against racism policy, the board appointed an Independent Commission for Equity in Cricket (ICEC) announced for a ‘call for evidence.’ Organizers of the ‘call for evidence’ are now expecting that number to increase after Azeem came forward and took a stand against social injustice.

Azeem Rafiq narrated his unpleasant experiences in parliament

For the unversed, Azeem Rafiq narrated his unpleasant experiences in front of MP’s in parliament on Tuesday (16 November). Notably, Yorkshire appointed an ‘independent’ panel in 2020 after Rafiq’s attempts to raise allegations internally were ignored for several years.

During the hearing in front of the parliamentary committee, Tom Harrison, chief executive of the ECB, rejected Yorkshire’s request for the national governing body to handle the matter brought forward by Rafiq. “The reason why Yorkshire were allowed to undergo this investigation is because – up to that point – it was fairly normal practice for first-class counties to run their own regulatory process. We have learned lessons through this process,” he had said.

Cindy Butts, the chairman of the ICEC back in March, appealed anyone who has suffered discrimination in the sport, to come forward. “Since launching part one of our call for evidence last week over 1,000 people have already come forward to share their experiences with us. It is crucial people across the game, many likely inspired by Azeem’s bravery, have the chance to be heard,” she had revealed.