Azeem Rafiq: 'I'm not perfect, but I don't regret speaking out about racism'

He added: “What I said was wrong. It hurt people and I wanted to apologise. Hopefully I have been able to demonstrate how sorry I am. I am proud that I have managed to turn something that was horrific into friendships for life. I hope that will continue to flourish.”

Pakistan-born Rafiq moved to the UK from Karachi aged 10, going onto play for Yorkshire for eight years, from 2008-2014 and 2016-2018.

He said he was first exposed to antisemitic language in the changing rooms, with England’s under-19s team. “One player brought the term into the changing room, calling someone ‘a Jew’. That is where it came from for me.” He added: “People’s natural instinct is to think it’s because I have come from a Muslim background; but actually my upbringing was not around Muslim people. I grew up in Barnsley in a predominantly white area.”

Now living in Dubai, the whistleblower said he left UK out of concern for his family’s “psychological and physical safety” after he spoke out about his experiences.

He also said he had been subjected to a smear campaign over his own behaviour, following reports around his own behaviour, including his treatment of women.

“I am not perfect and there is stuff I have done that I am not proud of. But the stuff out there is just not true,” he said.

Still, Rafiq said he does not regret his decision to expose racist behaviour in cricket. “I do not regret speaking out,” he said. “One mother told me that her son would have more opportunities and respect. That gives me goosebumps. There are good things, but cricket has got a long way to go. Leadership needs to show a lot more action delivery as opposed to PR delivery. Cricket should be, at its best, a game for everyone.”

Responding to reports of Yorkshire at risk of administration with losses of around £3million since the scandal, Rafiq said: “That would be very disappointing because I didn’t speak out for the club to go bust. If that does happen, there’s always going to be people that throw things at me.”

Rafiq, whose book ‘It’s not banter, it’s racism’ is out in August, made the comments ahead of speaking at an event that raised around £2,000 for Belmont and Edgware Cricket Club, one of the largest Jewish cricket clubs in the UK. The event, at the Old Camdenians Sports and Social Club in north-west London, was attended by around 50 people.

Belmont and Edgware club chairman Jonny Evans said: “It was a fantastic night for the club. Azeem was a compelling speaker on a range of important topics and we raised a significant sum of money to enable us to keep costs low to provide ongoing opportunities for Jewish cricketers, regardless of their means.”

AN EVENING WITH AZEEM RAFIQ:

Almost £2,000 raised for the club

THANK YOU everyone who supported us, and to both @AzeemRafiq30 and Nigel Rothband (@NJLR) for giving up their time and expertise.

🧵A thread on the evening, why we did it and what was said: pic.twitter.com/kTzqx3fUjK

— BECC 🏏 (@BelmontEdgware) May 2, 2023

In 2020, the ex-Yorkshire County Cricket Club spinner prompted a national discussion around racism after he said he was treated like an “outsider” because of his background as an Asian and a Muslim at the club.

However, a year later the Times newspaper revealed that Rafiq – who captained England’s under-15 and under-19 teams, which included players like Joe Root and Ben Stokes - had made derogatory comments about Jewish people in a Facebook exchange with another cricketer in 2011, when he was 19 years old.

The cricketer, who the JC brought together with a Holocaust survivor, said at the time: "I don’t want to play it down. I’ve hurt people. My genuine feeling is that I deserve the flak. I f***ed up.”

In an interview with the JC, Rafiq, now 32, said he had “learnt a lot” after going to the Auschwitz concentration camp last year. He said he also had memorable conversations after visiting the Jewish Museum and that he hoped relations with Jewish people he has since met, would “flourish”.