English cricket is bracing itself for further allegations of racist abuse within the county game after fresh claims were made on Monday and recent ones backed up.
On the eve of a Parliamentary committee hearing into the allegations of racism made by former Yorkshire player Azeem Rafiq, which triggered the resignations of both chairman and chief executive, another player has made incendiary accusations about team-mates at Essex and Northamptonshire.
Maurice Chambers, who also played for Warwickshire and England Lions during a decade in the game, gave an interview to The Cricketer in which he said he was subjected to racist bullying including having a banana thrown at him and being called a monkey, and a coach who read out racist jokes in the dressing room.
This followed Adil Rashid, the England leg-spinner, becoming the second player to support Rafiq’s claim that Michael Vaughan, the former England captain, told a group of four Asian Yorkshire players: “(there’s) too many of your lot, we need to do something about it”.
Vaughan, a pundit for Fox Sports Australia, again strongly denied the claim stating it ‘simply never happened’.
On Sunday another former Essex player, Zoheb Sharif, said he received racist abuse that included being called “bomber” by his team-mates after the September 11 attack.
More revelations seem likely. Chambers said he had given his interview, for which he was not paid, because he had been ‘inspired’ by Rafiq. He added: “I want other players to have the courage to speak up and share their experiences. Only by letting people know about the things that have being going on can we bring about change.”
Chambers made his Essex debut in 2005 at 17. Now 34 he described an alleged incident that happened at a house he was temporarily sharing with a team-mate.
He said: “We had a team night out in Chelmsford. The other player got pretty drunk. When I got home, he threw a banana down the stairs and said: ‘Climb for it, you f***ing monkey.’”
Chambers said the player was told to apologise, but they continued to live in the same house.
On another occasion, Chambers recounted how a coach laughed when a senior player offered him a banana. Chambers added: “It was humiliating. It was isolating. I never told anyone, but I would go home at the end of the day and cry.”
The England and Wales Cricket Board has said it is “appalled” and vowed to investigate alongside the other allegations about Essex, whose chairman John Faragher quit last week after it was alleged he had used a racist phrase at a board meeting in 2017. Faragher denies the claim.
Essex chief executive John Stephenson, who took over the day-to-day running in October, said Chambers’ allegations made distressing reading’ and would ‘be taken very seriously and investigated thoroughly’.
Vaughan, who has been stood down by the BBC but is expected to cover the Ashes for Fox Sports Australia, had denied the initial allegation. On Monday he issued a statement in which he said: “I categorically deny saying the words attributed to me by Azeem Rafiq and want to re-state this publicly because the ‘you lot’ comment simply never happened.”
Vaughan added: “To be confronted with this allegation 11 years after it has supposed to have happened is the worst thing I have ever experienced.”
“I fully accept that perspectives differ, and I have great sympathy for what Azeem Rafiq has gone through, but I hope everyone understands why I cannot allow this to go unchallenged or my reputation to be trashed unfairly.”
Paul D
Roar Guru
It's about as believable as Porter's defence too
Ball Burster
Roar Rookie
I can't find the Terms of Reference for the parliamentary inquiry but The Guardian says it is to “address concerns about the lack of action against individuals following the findings of the investigation by Yorkshire”. It has already extended beyond Yorkshire and will likely involve UK cricket clubs at many levels. There are three possible trajectories that the inquiry conclusions: - R is still - and always was - widespread in UK cricket; or - R was once quite widespread in UK cricket, but is now rare; or - R certainly existed in UK cricket but was comparatively rare and becoming rarer. Regardless of possible inquiry trajectories, all accusations and assertions need to be fully investigated. All we need to do is suspend judgement in the meantime.
Paul
Roar Guru
The problem with this issue is that it's not confined to one County. There's been accusations made about Essex now and who's to say more won't come out in the coming months. Remember too, these are only accusations, yet there's an assumption of guilt, so players from that County will be trying to keep their names clean, which has to be a distraction if they're involved in the Ashes. I don't think anything can be gained from any of the players making a personal statement, hence my comment that the ECB and/or the Ashes tour management needs to field all questions about this, at least until the series is over. I'd also think it inappropriate for players to make comments because I gather there's a UK parliamentary hearing on this issue. Far better to let the dust settle and let the players focus on cricket.
matth
Roar Guru
Maybe they were just using an Indian term of endearment. We should ask Andrew Symonds about that. Seriously though, this has potential to be very damaging to Yorkshire and possibly to English cricket. Vaughan obviously had to go down this path, given his entire career is in the media.
Jeff
Roar Rookie
Agreed. I think he was at the club from maybe 11 until he left at 14.
Tempo
Roar Rookie
Interesting, didn't think of that! He would have been 14 at the time though, so unlikely he had much to do with the senior squad (I guess the cultural issues could have extended to juniors though not aware that's been alleged).
Jeff
Roar Rookie
Josh Inglis was also playing at the club as a junior at the time of the Vaughan allegations.
Damo
Guest
This is going to pretty ironic given how much some ex-English players like to use the standard and social media to take pot shots at everyone. It's going to turn on them really quickly.
JGK
Roar Guru
Vaughan borrows the Christian Porter defence I see.
Tempo
Roar Rookie
There are a handful of current and former Yorkshire players in the England squad - most prominently Joe Root, but also Jonny Bairstow. Ollie Robinson also briefly played for Yorkshire when younger. England will be hoping there are no skeletons in the cupboard re: Root and Bairstow. I think it's unlikely given the sort of guys they seem to be, but who knows. Hameed is the only Asian cricketer in the squad and he played for Lancashire before moving to Notts, so no connection to Yorkshire. I think Saqib Mahmood is the only Asian cricketer in the England Lions squad and he plays for Lancashire, so also no Yorkshire connection. So I doubt anyone else in the squad will have the sort of revelations Adil Rashid (rightly) has shared. I personally think it would be better for the Yorkshire players in the squad to come out strongly and make a statement against racism and condemning the culture that was allowed to be fostered there. Joe Root's lukewarm statement that ended with a rallying cry to support the team in the Ashes doesn't cut it for me. Clear the air, acknowledge what happened and move on (assuming none of the squad was involved in any racist acts themselves).
Paul
Roar Guru
This looks like it's only going to get uglier before it's resolved. Touch wood this doesn't have too much impact on the current English Test squad. The ECB needs to quarantine it's entire Ashes group from commenting or getting involved. Ditto with CA and the Aussie guys.