The long-awaited Cricket Disciplinary Commission inquiry into Azeem Rafiq’s allegations of racism in Yorkshire cricket began on Wednesday. England’s Ashes-winning bowler Matthew Hoggard was accused of using racist and discriminatory language.
Jane Mulcahy KC, representing the England and Wales Cricket Board, stated that Hoggard had used racist and/or discriminatory language during the 2008 cricket season. Including “You Pakis are all the same” and “you lot sit over there” about Rafiq and other Asian Yorkshire players.
The ECB also alleged that Rafiq was referred to as “Rafa the Kaffir” during the 2008 season. And that Hoggard referred to another player at the club as a “token black man” and/or TBM.
Hoggard is one of six Yorkshire players and staff charged under ECB directive 3.3, which regulates improper conduct. May harm cricket’s interests or discredit the ECB, cricket, or any player.
Hoggard, John Blain, Tim Bresnan, Andrew Gale, and Richard Pyrah withdrew from the ECB discipline process last month. While former England captain Michael Vaughan will contest the allegations against him at the CDC later this week.
Mulcahy stated, in outlining the ECB’s case against Hoggard, that the bowler confessed to using the P-word and the phrase “Token Black Man,” but denied any racist or discriminatory intent.
Hoggard had also admitted to using the term “Rafa the Kaffir” but denied that he had created it. Or that it carried a racist meaning. Instead, he said it meant a Muslim who didn’t follow the religion’s rules.
Mulcahy disagreed, saying the bowler had played in South Africa and knew a few terms. She also noted that Rafiq “observed his religion and did not drink. As he later did to blend in” in 2008.
Monty Panesar, another England cricketer of Asian descent, told the ECB that he had never heard Hoggard speak to anyone offensively or inappropriately, “let alone in a manner that could be construed as racially discriminatory.”
Mulcahy advised the CDC panel to give much more weight to Hoggard’s “very severe admissions” regarding his language use than to Panesar’s evidence, which would not be subject to cross-examination.
She added that Hoggard’s admission of using the n-word demonstrated “a prevalent atmosphere at Yorkshire County Cricket Club at the relevant time in which this term was commonly used.”
This is consistent with Yorkshire’s admission that it failed to adequately confront systemic racism and discrimination over an extended period.
Mulcahy corrected “several misrepresentations about this disciplinary process” by some defendants.
She denied Hoggard’s media claim that the ECB was withholding proof and said the respondents had received hundreds of documents.
Mulcahy also stated that Pyrah’s claim that the ECB had never accused him of prejudice was “false.” As specific allegations about his conduct were made to him in a letter on 9 February 2022.
She concluded by stating that Bresnan’s claim in the media that he had been charged without being interviewed was “evidence-false” given that a transcript of his interview with the ECB was included in the documents provided to the panel.
