Former West Indies pacer Tino Best said that the 'drinking culture' in county cricket was partly responsible for Asian and black players not getting enough opportunities in English cricket.
Best, who played for both Yorkshire and Hampshire, stressed that cricket needs to tackle the "drinking culture" in order to give equal opportunities to black and Asian players.
His comments came after former Yorkshire cricketer Azeem Rafiq made shocking revelations in testimony to a British parliamentary committee earlier this week. Rafiq also claimed that he faced years of racist abuse, discrimination, and bullying while playing for Yorkshire Cricket Club.
During the parliamentary hearing at Portcullis House in London, Rafiq, a Muslim, told the Digital, Culture, Media, and Sport (DCMS) committee on sports governance how he was pinned down by an unnamed senior player at his local cricket club and red wine was poured into his mouth when he was 15.
Rafiq's revelations have not only shaken English sport, cost Yorkshire sponsors and the right to host international matches, and embroiled some of the biggest names in English cricket, but also thrown a spotlight on racism in the sport, as well as its drinking culture in England.
Tino Best, who played alongside Rafiq for Yorkshire in the 2010 season, told BBC Sport: “The culture around cricket is drinking. That is a big problem. People shouldn't be pressured to go into the clubhouse and drink eight or nine pints to be a part of the team. You've got to stop bullying people into doing what they don't want to do.”
He added, “If you're not a part of the drinking culture if you're not a part of the boys' club, you're not going to get opportunities after cricket. That is something that is hampering people of color and Asian ethnicity.”
The former pacer also recalled how players of Asian heritage such as Rafiq, Adil Rashid, and Ajmal Shahzad were treated at Yorkshire in 2010 and how they feared reprisals if they went public with their complaints. He was also named in the report but wasn’t contacted to seek any further information.
Best added, “My time at Yorkshire, I always saw the guys Adil Rashid, Ajmal Shahzad, Rafiq, they were always together. Me being a person of color as well, I would always be with them as well. I would always hear about them complaining, literally, they would complain every day about what they went through, in the youth academy. I would be like 'wow'.”
He signed off by saying, “It was just astounding to hear what those guys were saying back in 2010. And there was no platform for them to really open up, because guys would have probably lost contracts, probably kicked out of the club. Guys were fearful of that.”
(With Reuters/BBC Inputs)
