Brooks will participate in ‘extensive training on Equality, Diversity and Inclusivity’
Somerset County Cricket Club have reprimanded Jack Brooks and made him take diversity training after an investigation into historical tweets that included racist language took place.
The club confirmed that they were investigating Brooks after he tweeted “Cheers N****” to Tymal Mills after the bowler tweeted about England winning a series in Sri Lanka in 2012.
Brooks also sent an identical tweet to cricketer Stewart Laudat, who played minor counties cricket for Oxfordshire.
The Somerset bowler – who was at Yorkshire when the tweets were originally sent – was one of a host of players named in Azeem Rafiq’s statement to MPs this week, which included Alex Hales, Gary Ballance, former England captain Michael Vaughan and others.
"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
Rafiq alleged that Brooks would call India batter Cheteshwar Pujara ‘Steve’, even though Pujara stated that he would prefer him not to.
On Thursday (18 November), Somerset confirmed that they had “decided to reprimand Jack, remind him of his responsibilities and require him to participate in extensive training on Equality, Diversity and Inclusivity.”
𝗖𝗹𝘂𝗯 𝗦𝘁𝗮𝘁𝗲𝗺𝗲𝗻𝘁: 𝗡𝗼𝘃𝗲𝗺𝗯𝗲𝗿 𝟭𝟴𝘁𝗵
Full Statement ⤵️⤵️#WeAreSomerset
— Somerset Cricket 🏆 (@SomersetCCC) November 18, 2021
The club released a statement confirming the conclusion to their investigation, which read: “As a result of our internal investigation, alongside the evidence given to MPs this week and now in the public domain, the Club have spoken with Jack at length about the nature and content of his comments. There is no doubt that these comments are unacceptable.
“Somerset CCC condemn the use of language which has any racist connotations. Jack agrees with this sentiment and is embarrassed and devastated that his comments offended people and he has acknowledged that, whilst they were made nearly a decade ago when he was less mature, the content of the posts was wrong and not in accordance with his personal values. Jack has engaged honestly and openly throughout the investigation and unreservedly apologies for his past errors.
“Before arriving at conclusions, the Club considered a number of factors including no evidence of repeated documented behaviour of this kind, the contrition shown by Jack throughout the process, feedback received from recipients of the social media posts, and his commitment to his own personal development.
“Given these considerations, the Club has decided to reprimand Jack, remind him of his responsibilities and require him to participate in extensive training on Equality, Diversity and Inclusivity.”
The statement added that Brooks and his partner had since been subject to threatening posts on social media, which have been reported to the relevant authorities for further investigation.
Related links:
- Somerset investigating bowler Jack Brooks over historical tweets
- Azeem Rafiq calls for the BBC to take action against Michael Vaughan
- Former England bowler Tim Bresnan ‘categorically denies’ Azeem Rafiq’s allegations of racism
