Yorkshire County Cricket Club Scandal

[JackOutback]

Looks like English cricket is set for a reckoning; Rafiq's testimony was damning.

 

[Belnakor]

If that were to be the case it would be to do with pathways cricket as non white players are as rare as hens teeth in the professional game

even at state level i can't think of that many non whites who were getting regular games. Usman is about it.

 

[Belnakor]

It did. Rafiq said he was a part of the social gatherings where he'd be called p***. He said the fact that a good guy like Root could be swept up in it shows how institutional it was.

Root is just a guy who goes with the flow, but i mean we sacked Smith from captain for allegedly "going with the flow" on the ball tampering.

What do they say? The standard you walk past is the standard you accept.

Root is the captain of the side, as far as i'm concerned he had a duty to step up against any bulling, let alone racist stuff.

 

[PhatBoy]

As much as Gillespie seems to be the only one coming out of this with his reputation intact, I wouldn't be at all surprised to see similar stories coming out of Australian cricket with Rafiq emboldening people to speak up. Hearings in South Africa and England, seems logical that we'll be the next domino to fall.

I may be wrong and it may be partly that I love SA cricket most of the time but I think from a certain time onward - maybe when Ntini became an integral member of the side, their institutionalised racial vilification would have drastically decreased. You can see the quota system and even the QdK issue recently that it still has an unease about it but I can remember things like Dale Steyn tweeting a picture of Amla reading the Q’uran on the team bus and talking about how much he adored Hashim and looked up to him. Generally their white players seem to know that they have a big part to play in writing societal wrongs of the past in their home country. The stuff being talked a out in this case is about as un-self aware as it can get.


Worse than that is reading the brainless demographic on fox sports Facebook stories trying to say Rafiq should just harden up

 

[Belnakor]

Looks like English cricket is set for a reckoning; Rafiq's testimony was damning.

i mean they already bullied their best player (KP) out of their test team. It just seems like the whole sport is full of bullies in england. This kind of blokey ladsy bullshit.

 

[Seedsfan]

even at state level i can't think of that many non whites who were getting regular games. Usman is about it.

But that’s more down to private school boys dominating state sides

 

[The hands of stone]

Testimony was tough listening . Ballance comes across as an absolute tool and no suprise Hales is involved if you know him .

Be interesting to see what the ECB do from here .

 

[Belnakor]

Testimony was tough listening . Ballance comes across as an absolute tool and no suprise Hales is involved if you know him .

Be interesting to see what the ECB do from here .

I don't doubt Hales is a tool but all we have on him so far is a rumor he called his dog Kevin. Balance always struck me as a twat.

 

[kickazz]

Looks like English cricket is set for a reckoning; Rafiq's testimony was damning.

Yeah. It's disappointing.

Australia's reckoning probably won't come until we actually pick ethnic players on a regular basis at the higher levels.

Can be a cliquey game to say the least

 

[Seedsfan]

Do find it odd that no current English/Yorkshire player was involved

 

[The Passenger]

i mean they already bullied their best player (KP) out of their test team. It just seems like the whole sport is full of bullies in england. This kind of blokey ladsy bullshit.

It's very much a private (what the English confusing call public) school elitist sport over here. Even more so then what I had already imagined.

I went to a few training sessions five(ish) years ago but realised pretty quickly realised I wasn't going to fit in super well so called time on that one.

I've been told the culture is supposed to be more down to earth in villages outside the big cities but ****ed if I'm travelling an hour each way on a weekend to play club cricket.

 

[Sarcoidevo]

Seems like Azeem is not such a clean skin either

https://www.theguardian.com/sport/2010/aug/04/azeem-rafiq-banned-twitter

Interesting also that he actually captained the England U19 side during a WC Tournament and also captained the Yorkshire T20 side

https://www.espncricinfo.com/player/azeem-rafiq-354259

 

[Gough]

It's very much a private (what the English confusing call public) school elitist sport over here. Even more so then what I had already imagined.

I went to a few training sessions five(ish) years ago but realised pretty quickly realised I wasn't going to fit in super well so called time on that one.

I've been told the culture is supposed to be more down to earth in villages outside the big cities but f’ed if I'm travelling an hour each way on a weekend to play club cricket.

I always found it odd that when I lived in England following rugger and cricket suggested a certain background.

 

[corbies]

I may be wrong and it may be partly that I love SA cricket most of the time but I think from a certain time onward - maybe when Ntini became an integral member of the side, their institutionalised racial vilification would have drastically decreased. You can see the quota system and even the QdK issue recently that it still has an unease about it but I can remember things like Dale Steyn tweeting a picture of Amla reading the Q’uran on the team bus and talking about how much he adored Hashim and looked up to him. Generally their white players seem to know that they have a big part to play in writing societal wrongs of the past in their home country. The stuff being talked a out in this case is about as un-self aware as it can get.


Worse than that is reading the brainless demographic on fox sports Facebook stories trying to say Rafiq should just harden up

I'm not sure this is true at all given what is coming out of the social justice and nation building hearings in South Africa. Their current head coach (Mark Boucher) has admitted singing songs with his team mates calling Paul Adams "brown s**t".

Lonwabo Tsotsobe, Khaya Zondo, Thami Tsolekile, Ashwell Prince along with Ntini have all said they experienced racism within the South African side led by Graeme Smith. Dwayne Bravo also still accuses Smith of racially abusing him in a Test match in 2005.

In those same hearings questions were raised as to how Smith got head-hunted into his current position as director of cricket in South Africa and why he then refused to appear at the hearings even though he is the current director of cricket.

Blokes like AB De Villiers have also been implicated in the hearings particularly by Khaya Zondo.

 

[NYRB]

Testimony was tough listening . Ballance comes across as an absolute tool and no suprise Hales is involved if you know him .

Be interesting to see what the ECB do from here .

I thought after last seasons big bash , hales was closer to England’s white ball set up. But I guess now I can understand why eoin Morgan was reluctant to choose him despite his impressive form.

Hales seems to have some serious off field issues: eg he was there when Ben stokes was involved in that night brawl, drug issues, this dog racism scandal , and one gets the feeling he associates with a bit of the wrong crowd.

I think it would be fair to say I doubt if we will see him in the international set up for England again.

 

[Seedsfan]

I'm not sure this is true at all given what is coming out of the social justice and nation building hearings in South Africa. Their current head coach (Mark Boucher) has admitted singing songs with his team mates calling Paul Adams "brown sh*t".

Lonwabo Tsotsobe, Khaya Zondo, Thami Tsolekile, Ashwell Prince along with Ntini have all said they experienced racism within the South African side led by Graeme Smith.

But until they get rid of the quota there will be division in the side. They made a big deal out of a photo of a trophy presentation a few years back with all the black players on one side and all the whites on the other

 

[NYRB]

To add on to that, I feel the problems here more come from turf v synthetic wickets. There are huge advantages for all those who go to private schools and play on turf over those who play club cricket on synthetic

Private schools also use their networks to make sure talent scouts are down watching each game

If you play club cricket you are relying on making the association’s rep side to get to bat on turf in front of the talent scouts for the state program. Now a player could have a great season and fail their first hit on turf and get overlooked

I actually feel the case in point made at last nights parliamentary heading in England it seems as you move up In the hierarchy of cricket one England it definitely becomes more of an “old school boy network” or a “white mans game.”


anyway it got me thinking more and more about WAs setup in cricket and it is predominantly a “private school” setup and they may be biases in terms of state selection eg Mitch Marsh, Stoinis, Chris Rogers, Justin Langer, MacGill, Tom Moody, Alderman,Hogg, Julian, Katich. I also realise Perth’s cricket setup produces more state and international cricketers from private school backgrounds relative to NSW/ VIC.

I actually feel WAs system is akin to England’s system. In England if you want to make it as a cricketer , you have to attend a private school . This table made for some interesting reading…..

https://prettyprogressive.com/study-reveals-63-of-international-cricketers-are-privately-educated/

 

[NYRB]

I always found it odd that when I lived in England following rugger and cricket suggested a certain background.

My consensus cricket is considered to be a “posh” sport speaking to people from Ireland and UK.

 

[PhatBoy]

I'm not sure this is true at all given what is coming out of the social justice and nation building hearings in South Africa. Their current head coach (Mark Boucher) has admitted singing songs with his team mates calling Paul Adams "brown sh*t".

Lonwabo Tsotsobe, Khaya Zondo, Thami Tsolekile, Ashwell Prince along with Ntini have all said they experienced racism within the South African side led by Graeme Smith. Dwayne Bravo also still accuses Smith of racially abusing him in a Test match in 2005.

In those same hearings questions were raised as to how Smith got head-hunted into his current position as director of cricket in South Africa and why he then refused to appear at the hearings even though he is the current director of cricket.

Blokes like AB De Villiers have also been implicated in the hearings particularly by Khaya Zondo.

I was referring mostly to the last 10 years but must admit I wasn’t aware of this stuff particularly the Smith accusations.

The de Villiers issue I remember reading about but the notion that it was racially motivated has not, from what I can see, had any substantiated evidence. Even the selector who said that Zondo should have played said that ABDV spoke only about his lack of international experience as the reason for not selecting him. That’s where the line between righting past wrongs and normal everyday selection issues gets blurred. I’m disappointed to read about Smith. That sucks.

 

[Seedsfan]

I actually feel the case in point made at last nights parliamentary heading in England it seems as you move up In the hierarchy of cricket one England it definitely becomes more of an “old school boy network” or a “white mans game.”


anyway it got me thinking more and more about WAs setup in cricket and it is predominantly a “private school” setup and they may be biases in terms of state selection eg Mitch Marsh, Stoinis, Chris Rogers, Justin Langer, MacGill, Tom Moody, Alderman,Hogg, Julian, Katich. I also realise Perth’s cricket setup produces more state and international cricketers from private school backgrounds relative to NSW/ VIC.

I actually feel WAs system is akin to England’s system. In England if you want to make it as a cricketer , you have to attend a private school . This table made for some interesting reading…..

https://prettyprogressive.com/study-reveals-63-of-international-cricketers-are-privately-educated/

View attachment 1282374

Surprised Australia’s percentage is so long going back to when I was going through high school I knew quite a few blokes playing rep cricket. Personally I just struggled to hit the ball at club cricket. But they would all talk about how the system is stacked against you if you don’t play private school cricket.

When you look at the young Vics now Pucovski Brighton, JFM Carey, Sutherland Scotch, Mac Harvey Brighton, Harper Yarra Valley Grammar, Will Parker went to a government school and not sure about Mitch Perry. But there is an incredibly high amount of private school boys

 

[NYRB]

I heard much of his testimony and was struck by his articulate answers and his quick intelligence. He answered questions directly and, generally, to the point. Hutton and Harrison were more guarded and sometimes evasive. Harrison retreated to meaningless managementspeak in some of his responses. Although there will be much talk of institutional racism, I would focus attention on institutional incompetence and disintegration. This is a club that has tolerated bullying and harassment on the part of senior officials and players for years on end. Tolerance means that no attempt has ever been made to recognise the problems and stop them. On the contrary, it was part of their 'culture', or esprit de corps, that competitive, offensive and racist banter should be acceptable. The club has stood on its dignity for over a century, a self-described hard school that brings a tough approach to its cricket, a county that plays cricket hard, and to win. Dissent from players has been suppressed, even though the committee is famous for its raucous falling-outs. Now look where it's got them. A new club at Yorkshire might not go amiss.

 

[John Smith92]

Surprised Australia’s percentage is so long going back to when I was going through high school I knew quite a few blokes playing rep cricket. Personally I just struggled to hit the ball at club cricket. But they would all talk about how the system is stacked against you if you don’t play private school cricket.

When you look at the young Vics now Pucovski Brighton, JFM Carey, Sutherland Scotch, Mac Harvey Brighton, Harper Yarra Valley Grammar, Will Parker went to a government school and not sure about Mitch Perry. But there is an incredibly high amount of private school boys

A big part of that is just private schools giving out scholarships to guys who are obviously going to make it to boost their first XI though. Not sure exactly how much of an advantage it is and how much it's just recognition of pre-existing talent.

 

[corbies]

Surprised Australia’s percentage is so long going back to when I was going through high school I knew quite a few blokes playing rep cricket. Personally I just struggled to hit the ball at club cricket. But they would all talk about how the system is stacked against you if you don’t play private school cricket.

When you look at the young Vics now Pucovski Brighton, JFM Carey, Sutherland Scotch, Mac Harvey Brighton, Harper Yarra Valley Grammar, Will Parker went to a government school and not sure about Mitch Perry. But there is an incredibly high amount of private school boys

The history of Australian cricket is essentially built on the back of publicly educated cricketers. In particular in NSW there have been very few privately educated professional cricketers. Although it's started to even up more recently (in fact there's been quite the rise in private school educated cricketers in the NSW squad/playing for other states but grew up in a privately-educated NSW school in the last 5 years) this article from 2013 is a good read into it:

The cricket curse facing private schoolboys

From Donald Bradman to Michael Clarke, state school graduates have dominated the ranks of Australian Test teams, leaving the question of what private schools are doing wrong.

www.abc.net.au

 

[Seedsfan]

The history of Australian cricket is essentially built on the back of publicly educated cricketers. In particular in NSW there have been very few privately educated professional cricketers. Although it's started to even up more recently this article from 2013 is a good read into it:

The cricket curse facing private schoolboys

From Donald Bradman to Michael Clarke, state school graduates have dominated the ranks of Australian Test teams, leaving the question of what private schools are doing wrong.

www.abc.net.au

Well look I guess NSW normally provides the line share of the test side and maybe the fact that they have such strong representation from government schools is what helps them produce the volume of talent they do. As south of the border it seems very much a private school boys game

 

[Seedsfan]

A big part of that is just private schools giving out scholarships to guys who are obviously going to make it to boost their first XI though. Not sure exactly how much of an advantage it is and how much it's just recognition of pre-existing talent.

Look that is also a factor