Yorkshire CCC racism latest Pt2: No culture of racism at Yorkshire, insists Ajmal Shahzad

Shahzad told the England and Wales Cricket Board racism investigation on December 3 2021 (coincidentally the very day that Yorkshire’s entire coaching and medical staff were sacked by incoming chairman Lord Kamlesh Patel) that he had experienced no racism at the club and suggested that Rafiq was “a bad bloke” who “got the yips” and consequently did not fulfil his potential as a player.

Shahzad said there was “no way in hell” that Rafiq - who left Yorkshire in 2018 after not being offered a new contract - would have put up with racism had there been any because “if somebody said anything to him that he didn’t like, he’d be one of the first to let you know”, describing him as “a prickly character” and “a very difficult person to manage”.

Yorkshire CCC racism latest Pt1: Ajmal Shahzad claims Azeem Rafiq pressured Adil Rashid into Michael Vaughan claim

Shahzad said: “Would somebody just sit there and take a barrage of abuse and then bring it out 10 years later? That’s not him. That’s not him. You see him on Twitter. When somebody has a go at him on Twitter, he goes back through (the) keyboard.”

Shahzad, the first British-born Asian to play for the Yorkshire first XI in 2004, told the ECB that he was never made to feel that he had to do things to fit in, as Rafiq claimed of himself, such as drink alcohol, insisting “that environment never asked me to do that”.

He went on: “When I first went in - it was probably me and Adil Rashid (the) first couple of (Asian) players to go in there, we kind of… well, I would like to have thought that’s the example that we set for any other South Asian Muslim coming through. That’s what we believe in. This is our religion. This is how it is… This is the standard that we uphold.

“Azeem was different. Azeem would drink, would smoke, would go out, would do things very differently. And naturally people would ask, ‘Well, how come you’re not like that? Why don’t you do that?’ And then… now he puts us all (the Asian players) in a sticky position because now I’m saying ‘well, some people… they are the choices that they want to make.”

Shahzad said that he and Rashid shared different values to Rafiq, adding: “Azeem did stuff very differently to how we did and stuff that we didn’t really believe or agree with.”

A friend of Rafiq has described the latest allegations against him as “nonsense” and said that “Azeem has been proven right time and time again”.

The person added: “There have been apologies from Gary Ballance, David Lloyd, Matthew Hoggard and Yorkshire CCC.

“Two different investigations from Yorkshire – a panel and a legal firm – confirmed Azeem had suffered racial harassment and bullying.

“There are numerous witnesses who have gone on the record and there are witnesses who have sent messages to Azeem confirming events.

“He said there are problems in the wider game and this was then backed up by the likes of the Jahid Ahmed revelations and the Changing the Boundaries report.”

Shahzad’s comments to James Pyemont, who is leading the ECB investigation, and to representatives from Onside Law, the governing body’s lawyers, have come to light ahead of the ECB hearings due to take place in early March, when Yorkshire are expected to admit to various charges – although on what basis is unclear.

Gary Ballance, the former Yorkshire batsman, has admitted using the P-word to Rafiq in the context of former close friends exchanging insults in social settings, and is one of several players charged in connection with the crisis.

But in echoes of media remarks made in April 2021, when he thanked the players, coaches and staff at Yorkshire for making him a better man, Shahzad rubbished the idea of a racist culture at Headingley.

“There was nobody there that said anything that crossed my boundaries, using racial language or something, abusive language,” he told the ECB.

“There wasn’t anybody in that environment who would even go there. They just wouldn’t. They got to know you as an individual. They were good guys, genuine good guys.”

Shahzad, who played one Test and 11 one-day internationals, and is now fast bowling coach at Multan Sultans, said that he never heard terms such as the P-word and “elephant washer”, as alleged by Rafiq.

He conceded that the term “you lot” was used - not least by himself and Rashid in reference to English players - but never in a pejorative way.

“I would say ‘yes’ (that ‘you lot’ was used),” said Shahzad. “There’s every chance that one of us, as in me and Rash, would have definitely said ‘you lot’ about the English group of players.

“Taken out of context, you would think that doesn’t sound appropriate, but at no point did they say ‘you lot over there, you lot over there, you lot, you lot, you lot…’ No, not at all…. I would say it was very much a light-hearted comment that if you put it into today’s world, taken out of context, people would say you can’t say that.”

Shahzad added: “The only person in that dressing room who would sometimes use phrases that you would think… who you’d think might be getting close to the line there, would be Hoggy (Matthew Hoggard). And that’s the only one.

“But, as much as he (Hoggard) was a Yorkshire player, he would play for England a lot, and when he came back into that Yorkshire dressing room he didn’t last long, so he just didn’t last long because bad blokes don’t… you know, unless you are immensely skilful, you can get away with being a bad bloke for a bit. As soon as your form drops, you’re gone. You’re gone. And that’s… and I’d apply that to Azeem, I’d say that to Azeem as well.”