Former England cricketer Phillip DeFreitas on Saturday (June 27) contributed to the global debate around racism, saying he received death threats during his playing days.

"I received hate letters from the National Front - it's not only once, I received that two or three times, saying 'If you play for England, we will shoot you'," DeFreitas, who played 44 Tests and 103 ODIs for England, said in a Sky Cricket Podcast.

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The 54-year-old further added that the multiple death threats affected his international career as he couldn't focus on cricket.

"I had police looking after my house. I had a sponsored car with my name on it and I had to remove that. So can you imagine me driving down to London? I'm in a hotel two days before a Test match at Lord's and I'm thinking 'do I play or don't I? Am I going to have a sniper?

"How can I focus on playing cricket for England with all that but with my determination, I would not allow those people to beat me ever."

Racism has become a topic of debate following the killing of George Floyd – a 46-year-old African-American, who died in Minneapolis last month after Derek Chauvin, a white policeman, knelt on his neck for several minutes.

DeFreitas, who played for England between 1986 to 1997, said he "always felt he had to be twice as good as a white person".

"There was that feeling where you felt you were just on your own all the time. People used to say 'why don't you get involved', 'why don't you be more with the team'. You felt lonely, you felt all on your own. It was really tough.

"To have Gladstone Small and Chris Lewis playing for England was fantastic - it made you feel a bit better, but never secure. I never felt welcome; I always felt like every game was my last game. I was desperate to play for England and that kept me going."

Although DeFreitas did not stand up against racism during his playing days, he believes the current England team has the opportunity to support and send a strong message.

"I wish I was able to come out and stand up for what I believed when I played, and the reasons why I didn't was because I was always afraid that I'd never play for England again or that I'd be seen as a trouble-maker," he said.

"The guys now have a great opportunity to stand up, be counted, and send the message out because this is going on and people are supporting them. I never felt I had that support. It was a scary place back then."

(With PTI inputs)