Cricket needs a Kick It Out-style organisation to tackle racism, says Julian Knight MP

Daniel Brown

“I feel as though I have been complacent. I did not think that it [cricket] was systematically racist.”

DCMS Committee Chair Julian Knight MP believes that cricket needs a Kick It Out-style organisation to tackle racism in the wake of the Azeem Rafiq racism scandal.

Knight chaired Tuesday’s DCMS hearing in which Rafiq spoke about his experiences of racism and bullying during his two spells at Yorkshire County Cricket Club.

In the hearing, former Yorkshire chair Roger Hutton, and his replacement Lord Patel, answered questions on the matter, with other members of the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) also questioned about their role in the investigations.

A number of clubs and individuals have responded since Rafiq’s testimony, with David “Bumble” Lloyd and Tim Bresnan releasing statements following the allegations made about them.

Knight believes that cricket would benefit from an organisation like Kick It Out, which tackles racism and discrimination in football.

“I feel as though I have been complacent. I did not think that it [cricket] was systematically racist,” Knight told Sky Sports News on Wednesday.

“There was clearly a serious problem at Yorkshire, and there may have been instances elsewhere, but we can’t put anything off the table.

“We need a ‘Kick It Out’ for cricket, like in football. The idea that we can have people using these phrases, harassing, bullying, excluding individuals such as Mr Rafiq. It is utterly almost beyond comprehension.

“But we need to understand it, and ensure that going forward we have a sport that is transparent and clean. That means complete governance reform in my view.”

"The treatment I received from some of the club officials was inhuman."

Azeem Rafiq recalls his horrific experiences of racism at Yorkshire CCC pic.twitter.com/KLmIYjKQbR

— JOE (@JOE_co_uk) November 16, 2021

Knight, the Conservative MP for Solihull, also stated that the issue wasn’t a ‘quick fix’, admitting that it is ‘more deeply rooted’ than he initially thought.

He said: “It isn’t a quick fix, it’s more deeply rooted than I thought when I started off in this inquiry a few months ago.

“We need to make sure the ECB has the powers in place to get a hold of the counties so we do not have a repeat of what we have seen at Yorkshire.

“The racism has been exacerbated by the report and the way the investigation was conducted by Yorkshire, which in my view looked as if it was a means by which to keep Mr Rafiq quiet and out of the public domain. It took a parliamentary session to ensure that absolute horrors after several years, Mr Rafiq was able to speak the truth.”

Knight led the questioning on Monday, as Rafiq provided evidence with parliamentary privilege.

The former Yorkshire player – who fought back tears as he told MPs the word ‘P***’ was “used constantly” – also described his distressing first experience with alcohol, saying that at the age of 15, he had a bottle of red wine poured down his throat.