Azeem Rafiq welcomes PCA apology for failure to "meet standards" during Yorkshire affair

GEORGE DOBELL: The PCA, the players' union, was described as taking an "incredibly inept" approach to the episode by Rafiq when he appeared before the Digital, Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) select committee in November

The Professional Cricketers' Association has apologised for "failings" in their dealing with Azeem Rafiq's allegations of racism at Yorkshire and admitted they did not "meet the standards" they would have liked.

The PCA, the players' union, was described as taking an "incredibly inept" approach to the episode by Rafiq when he appeared before the Digital, Culture, Media and Sport select committee in November.

While the PCA's chief executive, Rob Lynch, did point out that the organisation had helped Rafiq with various issues throughout his career, he also admitted in his own appearance before DCMS on Tuesday (February 8) that they had failed to act decisively on the issue of racism at Yorkshire.

In particular, Lynch accepted that a situation where one PCA member had made allegations against other PCA members had created paralysis at the heart of the organisation and left them unsure how to proceed.

"We had some failings in our dealing with Azeem," Lynch said. "We did not meet the standards we would wish to. We've apologised to him directly.

"We applaud Azeem for his courage in coming forward to make the necessary changes to the game.

^{PCA deputy chairman Anuj Dal at the DCMS hearing on Tuesday}

"We've listened to Azeem. Azeem was right. One of the key learnings that we have made is that we should have put more public pressure on both Yorkshire and the ECB. What we did was put too much faith in the process that Yorkshire were undertaking, or at least telling us they were undertaking. That was wrong.

"We should have said in the media that we wanted Yorkshire to conclude the inquiry in a much more timely manner and make those findings known. The engagement we had with Yorkshire was sub-par.

"There are learnings. I apologise for those. I can't change what went before but I can influence tomorrow."

Rafiq welcomed the apology. He told The Cricketer: "I thank the PCA for the apology. If lessons have been learned from this experience, then it has not been wasted."

There were reminders, too, of the extent of the problem during the session. Anuj Dal, the Derbyshire all-rounder and PCA vice-chair, confirmed he had shared many of the same experiences as Rafiq as a young player. But, in an attempt to avoid being seen as a "troublemaker", he didn't report anything to the authorities.

"Unfortunately, what Azeem said really did hit home for me," Dal said. "There were instances as I was growing up where Asian players, in particular, were stereotyped as being lazy. Specific hand gestures were made for players of colour and also comments were made while senior members of staff were laughing along. That, to me, was particularly heartbreaking.

"I didn't want to be seen to be a troublemaker. I didn't want to be have that tarnish on my reputation, because cricket, as a professional sport, is a very cut-throat career in general. So I was in that position where I had to brush things under the carpet, and try and get on with it."

Dal also admitted he, like Rafiq, had heard the term 'Kevin' used to refer to non-white players.

^{The PCA have apologised to Azeem Rafiq}

"I have heard the term in my past career," he said, before adding it was something that occurred "not just at Yorkshire, but within the whole game". He was reluctant to go into detail, however, stating it was important to "look forward".

While questions from the panel of MPs suggested a need for a "truth and reconciliation commission", the ECB have already established an Independent Commission for Equity in Cricket which amount to very much the same thing. The commission, chaired by Cindy Butts who is a former deputy chair of the Metropolitan Police Authority, has been taking evidence and will report in the coming weeks.

Meanwhile Julian Metherell, the PCA chair, referred to attempts to block Lord Patel's plans for reform at Yorkshire as "abhorrent and totally obstructive". He went on to say that those opposing the reforms represented "the great barriers we face in making cricket a more inclusive place. These minorities cannot prevail. They won't win. We have to drive this out of the game".

He accepted, however, that the PCA was "constrained" by their financial reliance upon the ECB (70 per cent of their £4million annual income came from that source in 2021; in normal years, with more commercial activity, that figure is around 50 per cent) and said he was "personally very saddened" that "some PCA members are scared of the ramifications of being honest about what happened in the past".

Rafiq reacted to Metherell's comments with a tweet welcoming the "leadership" he had shown which had "gives me some hope for the future". He also suggested Metherell would be a decent candidate for the vacant role of ECB chair.