Azeem Rafiq: The former Yorkshire CCC player at heart of racism case

An independent investigation upheld a number of Rafiq's claims, after Yorkshire release a summarised version of their independent report in September.

They apologised and accept Rafiq had been victim of “racial harassment and bullying” in his two spells at the club between 2008 and 2018, but after only seven of Rafiq’s 43 allegations were upheld the county insisted there was insufficient evidence to prove or disprove institutionalised racism.

This week a number of big-name sponsors ended their relationship with Yorkshire as former England batter Gary Ballance revealed he used “a racial slur” against Rafiq but claimed both men “said things privately to each other which were not acceptable”.

The scandal continues to dominate the agenda at Yorkshire, with Roger Hutton resigning on Friday morning.

Who is Azeem Rafiq?

Rafiq was born in Pakistan in 1991 and moved to Barnsley in 2001. He grew up in the South Yorkshire town and attended Holgate School and played for Barnsley Cricket Club.

He was a member of Yorkshire's cricket academy and captained the England Under-15s side in 2006 and was named Yorkshire's Junior Performer of the Year the following year. He was named Academy Player of the Year in 2008.

TIMELINE - How events unfolded in Yorkshire CCC racism scandalRafiq made his first senior debut for Yorkshire in a Twenty20 Cup match against Nottinghamshire in 2008.

In 2009, he made his first-class and List A debuts for the county and went on to captain England Under-19s at the Under-19 World Cup in 2010.

In 2012, Rafiq captained Yorkshire six times in the Twenty20 Cup to become the youngest captain in the county's history and the first player of Asian origin to captain the club.

In 2014, aged 23, he was released by Yorkshire by mutual agreement after he suffered a knee injury and would not play professionally again for almost two years.

He returned to Yorkshire in 2016 after impressing coach Andrew Gale in a net session but was released again in 2018. He spent time playing in Pakistan before playing minor counties cricket for Lincolnshire in 2019.

In 2020, un an interview with ESPNcricinfo, Rafiq revealed: “I know how close I was to committing suicide during my time at Yorkshire” over what he describes as “institutional racism” at the county.

CONTINUE READING - Who is Roger Hutton? The Yorkshire CCC chairman who has stepped down in wake of Azeem Rafiq racism scandal.