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*Official* Yorkshire CCC racism crisis thread
- Thread starter ImpatientLime
- Start date
RossTaylorsBox
Cricket Web: All-Time Legend
That's not a recent phenomenon though, people casually dropping slurs in polite company has happened forever. Calling out people isn't a veneer either, peer pressure is one of the most influential things which changes (and as shown in the case of Yorkshire, preserves) racist attitudes. Racism has maybe got more reactionary, but it's a natural result of pushing back and people unable to handle that they don't get pats on the back for their bad opinions. I don't know about your friend group but today's schoolkids are far more aware of this stuff so I don't think it's as bad as people are making out. This kind of stuff will come and go in cycles as it always has done.
Burgey
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Slightly broadening the discussion from the specific racism angle for a moment, the thing I always find particularly odd is why so many people on the Right here want Aus to be more like the US?
We had these demos in Melbourne over the past few days with Trump flags, backed in by lunatic fringe elements with the gallows and nooses which you see from time to time in the States, and they always borrow the rhetoric re #freedom etc. You get that on the RW radio and TV shows too, and its within the federal govt too.
And I look at the US which remains racially divided, has an underclass of working poor, has had stagnant real wage growth basically since the end of the Reagan-Bush1 years, actively seeks to disenfranchise whole sections of its citizenry from voting and a health care system responsible for more bankruptcies than anything else over there. Then I see the mentally damaged Right wing here and their supporters wanting to adopt their rhetoric and take us down the route towards what is a borderline failed State.
We had these demos in Melbourne over the past few days with Trump flags, backed in by lunatic fringe elements with the gallows and nooses which you see from time to time in the States, and they always borrow the rhetoric re #freedom etc. You get that on the RW radio and TV shows too, and its within the federal govt too.
And I look at the US which remains racially divided, has an underclass of working poor, has had stagnant real wage growth basically since the end of the Reagan-Bush1 years, actively seeks to disenfranchise whole sections of its citizenry from voting and a health care system responsible for more bankruptcies than anything else over there. Then I see the mentally damaged Right wing here and their supporters wanting to adopt their rhetoric and take us down the route towards what is a borderline failed State.
RossTaylorsBox
Cricket Web: All-Time Legend
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SillyCowCorner1
Moooo
Meta ?
Spark
Global Moderator
The way I see it is that there are, in my personal observation, fewer racist individuals by number and major institutions are less racist than 10-15 years ago, but those that are stand out way more and are, if anything, more toxic in their impact on society as they're actively trying to bend things to their deranged point of view. So it doesn't actually feel better.
harsh.ag
Cricket Web: All-Time Legend
Adult(s) have to specifically appointed/designated to take the responsibility to ensure assimilation takes place when individuals different from the norm come into an organization. It has to be standard practice in today's age. Not doing so is not just wrong, it's dumb and unproductive.
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Niall
International Coach
That will be ripped up now. Ignoring how awful he comes across, he is from a sponsorship and PR pov an absolute liability.
honestbharani
Whatever it takes!!!
Really feel that is, to some level, reasonable but Steve has nothing phonetically like Cheteshwar or Pujara.
Niall
International Coach
Only can speak anecdotally but its relatively common for people in my circle to do the same even when it comes to generic English names.
Obviously if the person is unhappy with it then its a different story.
honestbharani
Whatever it takes!!!
@Niall - Had a colleague at work who is basically from the same state and speaks the same language as me in India, when I was working in the US... She used a very westernized short form of her name and even introduced herself so everywhere. I mean, its one thing to shorten your name in such a way that is easy for the majority of where you live pronounce it, quite another to have it changed into something totally unrelated by someone else for no reason.
Niall
International Coach
Oh yeah not trying to justify the crappy Pujara stuff at all.
Just for example shortening of name I think is relatively common where I am from even with basic names such as Matthew, Timothy, Joseph etc.
Teja.
Global Moderator
Ex-Yorkshire player alleges racist abuse
A former Yorkshire academy player has given BBC Sport a detailed account of experiencing alleged racism from team-mates at the club as a 14-year-old.
www.bbc.com
nightprowler10
Global Moderator
Agree with this tbh. Think I've mentioned I live in the Midwest and get a healthy mix of suburban and country folks. I recall when Obama first became president and remember all the comments that came out of the woodworks as a reaction. I still remember Jerry rigging something mechanical soon went back to being called "n***** rig", and as a joke they'd stop themselves and say "oh sorry that's not PC, it's an Presidential Executive Decision". So many comments about hoping he gets assassinated within the 1st year etc. So pretty bad stuff on an individual level.
However, as a company we were already evolving into something better. When I started working here almost 20 years ago, you couldn't imagine anything but a straight white male in the executive hallway. Now we have a black CEO, women and POC dominate the upper mgmt roles, and even my direct manager until recently was an openly gay woman.
duffer
Cricket Web: All-Time Legend
Lifted these from reddit but they're worth reading:
Michael Vaughan – 2009
39. Michael Vaughan was one of my cricketing heroes. I remember watching him captain England in the iconic Ashes series in 2005 – when I was captain of the England under 15s and playing for Yorkshire, like him – and I really looked up to and admired him and aspired to follow in his footsteps. In 2009, when I was 18, I remember being so excited to finally be in the same dressing room as him (Nottingham v Yorkshire, 22 June 2009). But the first thing he said to us, as the Asian players on the team (myself, Adil, Ajmal and Rana), after the huddle and as we were walking on to the field was “there’s too many of you lot. We need to have a word about that”. The four of us never played another match together again after that.
40. At the time, I remember being shocked and thinking, “did he actually just say that?”. I felt so disappointed that I felt sick. And then I felt angry. But I was so determined to play for England that I just tried to let it go. But I never forgot it. A lot of stuff that was said at YCCC hurt me, but hearing this from one of my cricketing heroes, it really stuck with me.
41. Michael Vaughan was probably the most influential player at YCCC at that time, and he continued to hold influential roles at YCCC after he announced his retirement in June 2009: he was appointed to mentor Andrew Gale, as captain, and spoke to him 3-4 times a week, he also oversaw international recruitment and later, in 2012, became a board member.
Gary Ballance: 2012 – 2018 (short version)
42. Gary Ballance is a cricketer from Zimbabwe who joined YCCC in 2008. While Hoggy started “Raffa the Kaffir”, it was Gary who really picked it up and really ran with it. Gary was also known to call any person of colour, “Kevin”.
43. I played in the first team before Gary did and was in and out of the first team between 2009 and 2011. It was 2012, when I made my breakthrough (which was around the time I began socialising more with the team, including drinking alcohol to try to fit in), so I started going out with Gary and Joe Root, and at that time I considered them both to be friends (I still consider Joe a friend). But over time, the constant racist banter from Gary became too much. He would constantly talk down to me and make racist jokes, designed to undermine me and make me feel small, like coming up and interrupting when I was talking to girls in a club, saying “don’t talk to him, he’s a ****”. I did my best to try to fit in, but it happened so much that at one point in 2012, I remember crying outside a nightclub after his constant racist taunting.
44. But Gary’s comments weren’t restricted to comments while out in clubs – he would make constant comments on YCCC trips, tours and events, and in front of YCCC coaches and staff, who did nothing to stop it and would often laugh along with Gary at the humiliating, racist comments he made towards me. For example:
(i) During the Abu Dhabi pre-season trip in 2009, Gary ridiculed me for not engaging in the drinking culture. On the last evening of the trip, everyone had to perform a show. Gary’s show, as always, was about him drinking sambuca and he was loved for his show. My show was non-alcohol related and Gary humiliated me in front of everyone for the lack of entertainment, compared to himself. Over time and after many comments like this, I felt pressure to participate in the drinking culture.
(ii) Gary would regularly make belittling or derogatory comments about my Pakistani heritage to others in front of me in various settings (“don’t talk to him, he’s a ****” or “why are you talking to him he’s a ****”), including on cricket trips and at functions. This happened in front of loads of people, including James Wainman, Joe Root, James Lee, Karl Carver, my agent Will Quinn and Bryan Teller. It got to the point that he said it so often, it became unbearable. I became completely fed up with it and I ended up having to complain to my agent, Will Quinn, on a number of occasions. At the PCA Awards event in 2014, Gary made another racist, belittling, racist comment to a woman about me in front of me, about me being Pakistani. I was so fed up that I wanted to hit him and we had to be pulled apart by our agent, Will Quinn.
(iii) On a pre-season trip to Dubai in 2017, Gary muscled in when I was speaking to a girl at an event, making comment about my Pakistani appearance, saying that “he is not a Sheikh, he has no oil” and “don’t talk to him, he’s a ****”, and in front of James Wainman;
(iv) In 2017, Gary made comments to other teammates that I had “ruled myself out” from selection for the Warwickshire game. Comments like these suggested I was to blame for not being selected or that I was not available for selection, when in fact it was.
(v) In June 2017 while away for a four-day Championship game, I had to ring Will Quinn again after another incident involving Gary. I told him to get me out of YCCC because I could not take it any longer. Steve Patterson saw the state that I was in that day – I literally broke down and was crying because of the ongoing comments from Gary, Tim Bresnan and Andrew Gale, (Somerset on June 9-12 2017);
(vi) In September 2017, we were on a YCCC bus trip travelling through London to Surrey. While driving through London, we drove past Asian men with beards and Gary said in front of the whole squad (including Adam Lyth, Steve Patterson, Andrew Gale (Yorkshire Coach), Richard Pyrah (Yorkshire Assistant Coach)) “is that your uncle there?”. Everyone laughed, which only encouraged and egged Gary on. On those bus trips, he would look out for corner shops and make comments like “does your dad own these?”. Again, everyone would laugh. They treated it as if it was just banter, but I found it hurtful and humiliating – and racist.
45. Gary would often make comments like this on YCCC bus trips, in the dressing room, or at events – and in front of YCCC coaches, staff and management, including our coach (Andrew Gale), Richard Pyrah, Director of Cricket, Martyn Moxon, and Club President Dickie Bird. But nothing was said or done to stop it. Instead, they often laughed along.
46. Gary continued this conduct towards me throughout my time at the club.
Michael Vaughan – 2009
39. Michael Vaughan was one of my cricketing heroes. I remember watching him captain England in the iconic Ashes series in 2005 – when I was captain of the England under 15s and playing for Yorkshire, like him – and I really looked up to and admired him and aspired to follow in his footsteps. In 2009, when I was 18, I remember being so excited to finally be in the same dressing room as him (Nottingham v Yorkshire, 22 June 2009). But the first thing he said to us, as the Asian players on the team (myself, Adil, Ajmal and Rana), after the huddle and as we were walking on to the field was “there’s too many of you lot. We need to have a word about that”. The four of us never played another match together again after that.
40. At the time, I remember being shocked and thinking, “did he actually just say that?”. I felt so disappointed that I felt sick. And then I felt angry. But I was so determined to play for England that I just tried to let it go. But I never forgot it. A lot of stuff that was said at YCCC hurt me, but hearing this from one of my cricketing heroes, it really stuck with me.
41. Michael Vaughan was probably the most influential player at YCCC at that time, and he continued to hold influential roles at YCCC after he announced his retirement in June 2009: he was appointed to mentor Andrew Gale, as captain, and spoke to him 3-4 times a week, he also oversaw international recruitment and later, in 2012, became a board member.
Gary Ballance: 2012 – 2018 (short version)
42. Gary Ballance is a cricketer from Zimbabwe who joined YCCC in 2008. While Hoggy started “Raffa the Kaffir”, it was Gary who really picked it up and really ran with it. Gary was also known to call any person of colour, “Kevin”.
43. I played in the first team before Gary did and was in and out of the first team between 2009 and 2011. It was 2012, when I made my breakthrough (which was around the time I began socialising more with the team, including drinking alcohol to try to fit in), so I started going out with Gary and Joe Root, and at that time I considered them both to be friends (I still consider Joe a friend). But over time, the constant racist banter from Gary became too much. He would constantly talk down to me and make racist jokes, designed to undermine me and make me feel small, like coming up and interrupting when I was talking to girls in a club, saying “don’t talk to him, he’s a ****”. I did my best to try to fit in, but it happened so much that at one point in 2012, I remember crying outside a nightclub after his constant racist taunting.
44. But Gary’s comments weren’t restricted to comments while out in clubs – he would make constant comments on YCCC trips, tours and events, and in front of YCCC coaches and staff, who did nothing to stop it and would often laugh along with Gary at the humiliating, racist comments he made towards me. For example:
(i) During the Abu Dhabi pre-season trip in 2009, Gary ridiculed me for not engaging in the drinking culture. On the last evening of the trip, everyone had to perform a show. Gary’s show, as always, was about him drinking sambuca and he was loved for his show. My show was non-alcohol related and Gary humiliated me in front of everyone for the lack of entertainment, compared to himself. Over time and after many comments like this, I felt pressure to participate in the drinking culture.
(ii) Gary would regularly make belittling or derogatory comments about my Pakistani heritage to others in front of me in various settings (“don’t talk to him, he’s a ****” or “why are you talking to him he’s a ****”), including on cricket trips and at functions. This happened in front of loads of people, including James Wainman, Joe Root, James Lee, Karl Carver, my agent Will Quinn and Bryan Teller. It got to the point that he said it so often, it became unbearable. I became completely fed up with it and I ended up having to complain to my agent, Will Quinn, on a number of occasions. At the PCA Awards event in 2014, Gary made another racist, belittling, racist comment to a woman about me in front of me, about me being Pakistani. I was so fed up that I wanted to hit him and we had to be pulled apart by our agent, Will Quinn.
(iii) On a pre-season trip to Dubai in 2017, Gary muscled in when I was speaking to a girl at an event, making comment about my Pakistani appearance, saying that “he is not a Sheikh, he has no oil” and “don’t talk to him, he’s a ****”, and in front of James Wainman;
(iv) In 2017, Gary made comments to other teammates that I had “ruled myself out” from selection for the Warwickshire game. Comments like these suggested I was to blame for not being selected or that I was not available for selection, when in fact it was.
(v) In June 2017 while away for a four-day Championship game, I had to ring Will Quinn again after another incident involving Gary. I told him to get me out of YCCC because I could not take it any longer. Steve Patterson saw the state that I was in that day – I literally broke down and was crying because of the ongoing comments from Gary, Tim Bresnan and Andrew Gale, (Somerset on June 9-12 2017);
(vi) In September 2017, we were on a YCCC bus trip travelling through London to Surrey. While driving through London, we drove past Asian men with beards and Gary said in front of the whole squad (including Adam Lyth, Steve Patterson, Andrew Gale (Yorkshire Coach), Richard Pyrah (Yorkshire Assistant Coach)) “is that your uncle there?”. Everyone laughed, which only encouraged and egged Gary on. On those bus trips, he would look out for corner shops and make comments like “does your dad own these?”. Again, everyone would laugh. They treated it as if it was just banter, but I found it hurtful and humiliating – and racist.
45. Gary would often make comments like this on YCCC bus trips, in the dressing room, or at events – and in front of YCCC coaches, staff and management, including our coach (Andrew Gale), Richard Pyrah, Director of Cricket, Martyn Moxon, and Club President Dickie Bird. But nothing was said or done to stop it. Instead, they often laughed along.
46. Gary continued this conduct towards me throughout my time at the club.
duffer
Cricket Web: All-Time Legend
There's more:
Andrew Gale (short version)
47. Andrew Gale played for YCCC with me and later went on to become captain. He was in the second team with me pushing into the first team around the same time. David Byas was the coach at that time, who had a brutal manner and was very old school Yorkshire (see above: Byas was also known for using phrases like “******”, “****” and “coon”). But he was Andrew’s hero. Everyone saw Andrew as the second David Byas, so they gave him the same nickname, “Gadge”.
48. As I explained before, Andrew joined in with Gary and others in the racist banter. Throughout my time at YCCC, Andrew called me “Raffa the Kaffir”, “****” and so on. But it was the discriminatory treatment and bullying I felt from him that was harder for me that the name calling.
49. It just always felt like the relationship was difficult, and it was as if we didn’t talk unless he was having a go at me or dressing me down – aggressively and in public. There were numerous incidents where I felt that Andrew was aggressive and rude towards me in ways he wasn’t with white players.
For example: (i) In 2009, after Andrew got dropped from the first team, the coaches wanted me to play a few overs for the second team to get some practice before the next important four-day match. I went on the field and Andrew didn’t bowl me. I didn’t know what was going on because the entire reason I was sent down there was to bowl for practice. I asked him why I wasn’t being bowled, and he kicked off at me and shouted at me aggressively in front of everyone;
(ii) In 2012, I was bowling and I wanted a fielder in a particular position and Andrew didn’t listen me. I gestured in frustration after the ball went through the very position I had asked for a fielder and he shouted aggressively. “Who the **** do you think you are? You do as you’re told”;
(iii) In 2013, in Barbados on a pre-season tour, I had an injury and I was debating with the physio about what treatment I thought I needed. We were in the bar, in public in front of other team members, and Andrew came over and started laying into me – again aggressively and in front of everyone (the next day, I was pulled aside by Moxon and told to “sort out my attitude”; no one seemed to care about how Andrew had spoken to me).
50. In or around August / September 2014, just a few weeks after I was released, I heard in the media about an incident where Andrew – as captain of YCCC – had made a racist remark to Ashwell Prince (“**** off back to your own country you Kolpack ****er”). He was suspended by ECB. YCCC didn’t suspend him: he was given their full support, funding for his legal defence and the Chair and Director of Cricket made public statements in support of him, saying he had their full support and they would do anything to help him clear his name (as set out in Section B above). I remember feeling very angry: I felt his treatment towards me was discriminatory and racist, but here he was being suspended by the ECB for being racist and the club excused his behaviour and let him off. At this point, I wasn’t angry at Andrew, I was angry at the club for failing to act.
51. But things got even worse after Jason Gillespie left at the end of 2016 and Andrew became coach. Before that he was a fellow player and captain, so I felt like I could ignore him as I had Jason there as our coach who supported me and looked after me. But when Andrew became coach, he had full control over my life and my career. I had to communicate with him every day, he would leave me out of training sessions, he would put me down – in ways I hadn’t seen him do that to others and particularly white British players.
52. I just don’t think that we received fair and equal treatment from Andrew, as compared with white British players. For example, during the Durham T20 Away game in 2017, I was walking off the field with Adil and we were having a general chat about the difference in score. I was asked what I thought, and I replied, “I think they are 15 over par” which is a completely normal discussion and comment. This was relayed to Andrew by Ian Dews (Coach) and Adam Lyth (Yorkshire & England Player), but it was taken out of context. Andrew then decided to question my selection in an aggressive and threatening manner, in front of everyone, before saying “why are you walking around saying they have 50 too many?” This was obviously not what I had said. I questioned who had told him this and wanted to address it so that we could clear the air. I didn’t want animosity. Andrew refused to give me further details or an opportunity to resolve the matter, which was the norm and would have been offered to anyone else. I left the ground with Adil in a car upset, humiliated and terrified about my position in the team. It felt like the smallest issue would cause Andrew to blow up at me, when I had watched him be patient and supportive to others (specifically white British players) who made mistakes or weren’t performing.
53. By way of comparison, throughout 2017, David Willey struggled with bowling which cost us important games, yet Andrew did nothing but encourage him and praise him in front of the group. Comparatively, for Adil and I, even a minor error and we were called out, dressed down and insulted. I was often left feeling humiliated (including in the incidents above). Andrew would say things like “we have spent hours side-arming you”, however, the truth was nowhere near as much practice time was given to me in comparison to the white British players. I shared my views with Adil and he agreed that we were being singled out and unfairly treated. Throughout the season, I also discussed this with my agent, Will Quinn, and told him how Andrew and Tim were bullying me and constantly making me feel inferior.
54. In 2018, my wife went through a very complicated and difficult pregnancy, which required a lot of medical intervention and ultimately resulted in my son dying in May 2018. It was an incredibly stressful time for me and for my wife, which made my already difficult situation at YCCC even worse. I felt completely unsupported by YCCC and by Andrew. I was criticised for seeking time off to manage with what was happening at home and felt that the club dismissed the seriousness of what I was going through and then penalised me for taking time away. For example, in the winter of 2018 (15 February 2018), when I got the call that my baby’s heartbeat could not be detected, we had an upcoming pre-season tour to South Africa (7 March 2018), and I really didn’t feel able to travel: we had a medical appointment the day after the team was due to travel and I needed to be there with my wife. Andrew’s response was, “everything will be fine, just get on the flight”. I recall saying to Andrew “do you realise I have had to rush home from 4 sessions because of an emergency?”. He made me feel like I was making excuses to get out of playing cricket, which was not true. As it transpired, the matter was as serious as I had tried to convey to the club with my baby and we lost him. I had not been exaggerating. I should not have been pressured to attend games and travel given the complex and difficult situation I was dealing with at home. It seemed obvious to me that far more support was offered to other players, for example, Gary Balance received a lot of support through depression and anxiety and Johnny Bairstow in relation to the ongoing impact and trauma of his father’s suicide.
Andrew Gale (short version)
47. Andrew Gale played for YCCC with me and later went on to become captain. He was in the second team with me pushing into the first team around the same time. David Byas was the coach at that time, who had a brutal manner and was very old school Yorkshire (see above: Byas was also known for using phrases like “******”, “****” and “coon”). But he was Andrew’s hero. Everyone saw Andrew as the second David Byas, so they gave him the same nickname, “Gadge”.
48. As I explained before, Andrew joined in with Gary and others in the racist banter. Throughout my time at YCCC, Andrew called me “Raffa the Kaffir”, “****” and so on. But it was the discriminatory treatment and bullying I felt from him that was harder for me that the name calling.
49. It just always felt like the relationship was difficult, and it was as if we didn’t talk unless he was having a go at me or dressing me down – aggressively and in public. There were numerous incidents where I felt that Andrew was aggressive and rude towards me in ways he wasn’t with white players.
For example: (i) In 2009, after Andrew got dropped from the first team, the coaches wanted me to play a few overs for the second team to get some practice before the next important four-day match. I went on the field and Andrew didn’t bowl me. I didn’t know what was going on because the entire reason I was sent down there was to bowl for practice. I asked him why I wasn’t being bowled, and he kicked off at me and shouted at me aggressively in front of everyone;
(ii) In 2012, I was bowling and I wanted a fielder in a particular position and Andrew didn’t listen me. I gestured in frustration after the ball went through the very position I had asked for a fielder and he shouted aggressively. “Who the **** do you think you are? You do as you’re told”;
(iii) In 2013, in Barbados on a pre-season tour, I had an injury and I was debating with the physio about what treatment I thought I needed. We were in the bar, in public in front of other team members, and Andrew came over and started laying into me – again aggressively and in front of everyone (the next day, I was pulled aside by Moxon and told to “sort out my attitude”; no one seemed to care about how Andrew had spoken to me).
50. In or around August / September 2014, just a few weeks after I was released, I heard in the media about an incident where Andrew – as captain of YCCC – had made a racist remark to Ashwell Prince (“**** off back to your own country you Kolpack ****er”). He was suspended by ECB. YCCC didn’t suspend him: he was given their full support, funding for his legal defence and the Chair and Director of Cricket made public statements in support of him, saying he had their full support and they would do anything to help him clear his name (as set out in Section B above). I remember feeling very angry: I felt his treatment towards me was discriminatory and racist, but here he was being suspended by the ECB for being racist and the club excused his behaviour and let him off. At this point, I wasn’t angry at Andrew, I was angry at the club for failing to act.
51. But things got even worse after Jason Gillespie left at the end of 2016 and Andrew became coach. Before that he was a fellow player and captain, so I felt like I could ignore him as I had Jason there as our coach who supported me and looked after me. But when Andrew became coach, he had full control over my life and my career. I had to communicate with him every day, he would leave me out of training sessions, he would put me down – in ways I hadn’t seen him do that to others and particularly white British players.
52. I just don’t think that we received fair and equal treatment from Andrew, as compared with white British players. For example, during the Durham T20 Away game in 2017, I was walking off the field with Adil and we were having a general chat about the difference in score. I was asked what I thought, and I replied, “I think they are 15 over par” which is a completely normal discussion and comment. This was relayed to Andrew by Ian Dews (Coach) and Adam Lyth (Yorkshire & England Player), but it was taken out of context. Andrew then decided to question my selection in an aggressive and threatening manner, in front of everyone, before saying “why are you walking around saying they have 50 too many?” This was obviously not what I had said. I questioned who had told him this and wanted to address it so that we could clear the air. I didn’t want animosity. Andrew refused to give me further details or an opportunity to resolve the matter, which was the norm and would have been offered to anyone else. I left the ground with Adil in a car upset, humiliated and terrified about my position in the team. It felt like the smallest issue would cause Andrew to blow up at me, when I had watched him be patient and supportive to others (specifically white British players) who made mistakes or weren’t performing.
53. By way of comparison, throughout 2017, David Willey struggled with bowling which cost us important games, yet Andrew did nothing but encourage him and praise him in front of the group. Comparatively, for Adil and I, even a minor error and we were called out, dressed down and insulted. I was often left feeling humiliated (including in the incidents above). Andrew would say things like “we have spent hours side-arming you”, however, the truth was nowhere near as much practice time was given to me in comparison to the white British players. I shared my views with Adil and he agreed that we were being singled out and unfairly treated. Throughout the season, I also discussed this with my agent, Will Quinn, and told him how Andrew and Tim were bullying me and constantly making me feel inferior.
54. In 2018, my wife went through a very complicated and difficult pregnancy, which required a lot of medical intervention and ultimately resulted in my son dying in May 2018. It was an incredibly stressful time for me and for my wife, which made my already difficult situation at YCCC even worse. I felt completely unsupported by YCCC and by Andrew. I was criticised for seeking time off to manage with what was happening at home and felt that the club dismissed the seriousness of what I was going through and then penalised me for taking time away. For example, in the winter of 2018 (15 February 2018), when I got the call that my baby’s heartbeat could not be detected, we had an upcoming pre-season tour to South Africa (7 March 2018), and I really didn’t feel able to travel: we had a medical appointment the day after the team was due to travel and I needed to be there with my wife. Andrew’s response was, “everything will be fine, just get on the flight”. I recall saying to Andrew “do you realise I have had to rush home from 4 sessions because of an emergency?”. He made me feel like I was making excuses to get out of playing cricket, which was not true. As it transpired, the matter was as serious as I had tried to convey to the club with my baby and we lost him. I had not been exaggerating. I should not have been pressured to attend games and travel given the complex and difficult situation I was dealing with at home. It seemed obvious to me that far more support was offered to other players, for example, Gary Balance received a lot of support through depression and anxiety and Johnny Bairstow in relation to the ongoing impact and trauma of his father’s suicide.
