ENGLISH cricket has been through its “annus horribilis” partly due to the poor performance of Joe Root’s Test team, but mainly because of the revelations about the racism suffered by Azeem Rafiq at Yorkshire, it has been stated in Wisden Cricketers’ Almanack 2022.
The expression was famously used by the Queen in 1992 to describe a year when several members of the royal family were caught up in personal scandals and a devastating fire which destroyed 115 rooms at Windsor Castle. Similarly, English cricket has been horribly burnt by the Rafiq racism scandal.
This is the 159th edition of Wisden, which many cricket lovers love to collect as the sport’s long acknowledged bible. Wisden’s editor, Lawrence Booth, hasn’t dodged any of the ugly details, which will now be in the reference book for all time to come.
Rafiq, now 31, was born in Karachi in Pakistan in 1991, moved to England in 2001, and played for Yorkshire between 2008 and 2014 and 2016 and 2018. In all, he played 35 first-class and 125 whiteball matches for the county.
For a start, Booth has written an editor’s note, in which he said “a racism scandal brought to light by the courage of Azeem Rafiq made the game look unwelcoming, and worse”.
Then Rafiq himself has described why he once contemplated suicide because of the indignities heaped on him at Yorkshire.
Wisden also carries a hard-hitting comment piece titled “Azeem Rafiq vs Yorkshire: Arms folded, eyes shut”, by David Hopps, a Yorkshire-based freelance cricket writer.
Tom Harrison (Photo: Justin Tallis/AFP/Getty Images)
Booth criticised “English cricket’s tone-deaf handling of the racism crisis”. He also called on Tom Harrison, chief executive of the ECB (England and Wales Cricket Board), to “return his share of the £2.1 million bonus after an annus horribilis, on and off the field, for the English game”.
Booth recalled the occasion when Rafiq broke down in tears when giving evidence to a Commons committee: “Shocked by what they had learned about racism in cricket, the parliamentary Digital, Culture, Media and Sport select committee threatened to withhold public funds unless the English game ‘cleaned up its act’ and ordered Harrison to appear before them every three months.”
Booth added: “On the second morning of the summer’s first Test, against New Zealand at Lord’s in June, Ollie Robinson returned to fine leg, earning applause from spectators in the Mound Stand: less than rapturous, more than polite, it sounded like a show of support. The previous evening, he had read out an apology after old tweets surfaced in which he insulted Muslims, women and Asians. And a few hours before that, he and other England players had lined up on the outfield wearing anti-discrimination T-shirts. For the ECB, scrambling to be on the right side of history, the timing was horrific.
“His apology and suspension ought to have been the end of it. But others saw their chance to co-opt cricket into their own battles. They called the suspension a ban – a cancellation by the woke mob. Culture secretary Oliver Dowden said the ECB had gone over the top; prime minister Boris Johnson agreed. The Establishment were rumbling into action. It showed why English cricket’s race relations would deteriorate before they could improve.”
Booth continued: “As Yorkshire’s mishandling of the Rafiq affair went from bad to abysmal, the scale of the crisis became clear not through solecisms from the past, but clumsy attempts to navigate the present. Gary Ballance, a former friend and county team-mate, apologised for calling Rafiq a ‘Paki’, then suggested he might feel just as bad ‘about some of the things he said to me’. Ryan Sidebottom – hired as an interim coach at Headingley – said the club should ‘try and forget’, and never mind ‘all the politics’. The problem was not confined to Yorkshire.
Middlesex chairman Mike O’Farrell told the DCMS committee in January that diversification of the dressing-room had been hampered by an AngloCaribbean love of football, and Anglo-Asian preference for education. Both Sidebottom and O’Farrell said sorry. There were a lot of apologies in 2021; a few were heartfelt.
“The effect of all these comments was insidious, and the message to those on the game’s margins unambiguous: cricket’s mainstream remained tonedeaf, even after Black Lives Matter, Michael Holding, Ebony Rainford-Brent, Rafiq and countless others who had been emboldened to speak out. And if they weren’t paying attention on a subject as important as this, what else had they missed? With Mehmooda Duke, until November the only non-white county chair, leaving Leicestershire, and Vikram Solanki, the only non-white head coach, leaving Surrey, the need for diversity – a collection of different perspectives, not the tokenism some imagine – has never felt more urgent.”
Booth dealt with the initial reaction from Rafiq’s county: “Yorkshire – under pressure to release the findings of a law firm’s investigation into Rafiq’s claims – showed the world how not to do it. On the day the media were swamped by the cancellation of the Old Trafford Test, Headingley smuggled out a press release. It offered both an olive twig (‘Azeem Rafiq was the victim of racial harassment’) and a slap in the face (his sacking was not for ‘anything other than cricketing reasons’). It admitted to instances of racist language and jokes about religion, but said there was not enough evidence to say Yorkshire were institutionally racist. It was a game of semantics, the work of a club passing judgment on themselves.
“In October, Yorkshire were still trying to brazen it out, and issued another press release in which the seventh word was ‘pleased’. No one, it said, warranted disciplinary action; the issues raised by Rafiq had become part of the club’s ‘continuing journey’. Despite all this, chief executive Mark Arthur soon resigned, after ‘eight fantastic years’.
“Five days later, Rafiq spoke from the heart in front of the DCMS committee. Poignantly, he said he didn’t want his son ‘to go anywhere near cricket’. Roger Hutton, having stepped down as chairman 11 days earlier, said he feared Yorkshire were indeed institutionally racist. More accusations followed, at other counties too. The situation was made messier by the alleged involvement of Michael Vaughan, who denied making a racist remark before a county game in 2009, even as Naved-ul-Hasan and Adil Rashid supported Rafiq’s claim that he had. (Ajmal Shahzad said he could not remember.)
“Rafiq experienced the fate of many a whistle-blower: canonised by friends, then castigated by foes. Stories emerged of his own tainted past, to the delight of those who believed they invalidated his testimony. If anything, the mudslinging helped prove a more profound point: this wasn’t about one man – it was about a sport’s response to a social problem. And while cricket couldn’t solve racism, it could at least get its own house in order.
Lord Kamlesh Patel (Photo: Oli Scarff/AFP/Getty Images)
“Thanks to Rafiq’s determination, the support of sections of the media, the scrutiny of politicians, and the resolve of Kamlesh Patel, Yorkshire’s new chairman, to break with a toxic past, there is hope. But it has taken some shameful kicking and screaming – and suffering – to get there.”
Booth wasn’t finished. He interviewed Rafiq at length and got him to describe in his own words what had happened to him at Yorkshire as an Asian origin player.
Rafiq began: “When I first spoke, in the summer of 2020, about the racial abuse I received during my time at Yorkshire, I didn’t for a moment imagine I’d end up talking about my experiences in front of a parliamentary committee, or cause a once proud club to internally combust, or force English cricket to examine its conscience.
“Even now, my emotions are mixed. I’m hugely grateful that Julian Knight (the Conservative MP for Solihull) and his colleagues on the Digital, Culture, Media and Sport select committee gave me the chance in November to release some of the pain I’d been carrying around for so long. And I was happy to see the changes made at Yorkshire by Kamlesh Patel, who is the kind of leader English cricket badly needs. I’m hopeful plenty of good can come from all this.
“But, deep down, I’d rather have quit the game aged 18 than carry the mental scars I do now. They’ll stay with me for the rest of my life. I never thought being a whistle-blower would be easy, but nothing prepared me for the reality. Ever since I went public, other players have rung me and said they want to speak out about their own treatment, and I’ve had to tell them how challenging it is.”
Rafiq confirmed: “I’ve struggled with my mental health since 2013 – and I’ve considered suicide. The toll on my family, too, has been huge. We recently received death threats and, although we can get someone to our place at a moment’s notice if we feel in danger, I have two young kids and ageing parents to think about. Of course, you ask yourself if it’s worth it.
“My wife, Faryal, has been amazing, and completely gets the mixed emotions. She said she could see the difference I was making to others, as well as the hell I’ve gone through myself. It’s exhausting, and yet I’ve come to accept that this is my life.
“Until the start of 2021, I didn’t want anyone at Yorkshire to lose their jobs. I just wanted an acknowledgment that I had been treated dreadfully. But it was becoming obvious the club didn’t want to listen to my grievances. When that happened, it was clear to me that guys like chief executive Mark Arthur and director of cricket Martyn Moxon had to go. We are where we are now because Yorkshire wanted a fight. They could have handled things so much better.”
Rafiq’s wife lost a son “after a horrible pregnancy. I chose not to go on a pre-season tour, and I was treated awfully. I decided enough was enough: I could no longer put their behaviour down to anything other than the colour of my skin or my religion. The more I spoke, the more I was depicted as a troublemaker, which happens easily to people of colour. The implication is clear. Who do you think you are? Get back in your box. An age-group coach at Yorkshire said to me he was told to pick ‘two or three of those Pakis’, but no more. We’re allowed to reach a certain station, but if we strive beyond that, we’re labelled difficult, opinionated, selfish. Worst of all, we don’t play for the team.
“I fully accept I’ve done things in my past I’m not proud of. I never said I was perfect. In some cases, I drank to fit in, and was more easily accepted by others as a result; when I stopped, so did the acceptance.
“More recently, some old messages of mine resurfaced in which I’d made anti-Semitic remarks. It made me sick to my stomach. It’s something I regret massively.”
Rafiq also said: “I would also like to make a plea for forgiveness. This isn’t about sacking people who have had the courage to apologise for mistakes from the past. The last thing I wanted, for instance, was for David Lloyd – Bumble – to lose his job at Sky because of comments he made. He rang me to say sorry, and that was good enough for me.
Rafiq emphasised that he was “not interested in tokenism: I want an England team who are properly representative of their country, with players who fully deserve their place. One thing is for certain: if the ECB don’t learn from this, we’ll be sitting here in 20 years with another racism scandal on our hands. If that happens, I hope whoever is involved survives the experience – because I nearly didn’t.”
In his comment piece, Hopps wrote: “The story of racism in English cricket is not solely about Yorkshire. How could it be? But some of the county’s least endearing traits meant that, when the dam did break, holed by the initially accidental, then increasingly obsessive, campaign of a cricketer who said, ‘enough is enough’, it was White Rose intransigence, insensitivity and inability to see the bigger picture that led to the torrent of condemnation. Other counties kept their heads down; racism elsewhere is often more insidious. The management saw in Rafiq only a disruptive, high-maintenance cricketer; they folded their arms, and refused to consider whether they might share the blame.
“Arguably, Yorkshire’s fault arose in the main from unconscious bias, a propensity for social stereotypes, and unquestioning faith in the status quo. Even when they finally abandoned their policy, in 1992, of fielding only Yorkshire-born cricketers – a policy that mass mobility had made preposterous – they did so not out of enlightened recognition of the plight of immigrant Asians, but because of defeats on the field and a worsening balance sheet.”
Hopps said once Yorkshire’s new chairman, Lord Patel, was appointed in November, change came quickly. “Born Kamlesh Patel in Kenya to a family of Gujarati descent, and raised in Bradford, he was a big hitter: a member of the House of Lords and the first British Asian to become a senior independent director of the ECB. He had also chaired the Mental Health Commission, before assuming a similar role with Social Care England.”
Hopps wondered: “Where does this leave Yorkshire? There remains a pressing need for cultural education for people of all races the moment they enter the club’s system, no matter how young; for a new code of ‘White Rose values’ that goes beyond hard work and straight talking; and for the introduction of systems and processes to ensure Yorkshire – forever cast as prejudiced and outdated – can be reinvented as a force for good. As the year turned, though, the talk was more about recrimination than education. Rafiq’s testimony had left the need to build something better. But if Yorkshire don’t find what Martin Luther King called ‘a common humanity’, then the wreckage could be irreparable for another generation.
Royal Challengers Bengaluru's Virat Kohli (C), along with his teammates, celebrates with the trophy after winning the Indian Premier League (IPL) Twenty20 final cricket match against Punjab Kings at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad on June 4, 2025. (Photo by ARUN SANKAR/AFP via Getty Images)
BRITISH giant Diageo is exploring the sale of its controlling stake in India's Royal Challengers Bengaluru cricket team, potentially valuing the newly-crowned champions at up to £1.6 billion ($2bn).
The maker of Guinness and Johnnie Walker whisky is weighing its options for the Indian Premier League franchise, including selling part or all of its ownership through United Spirits, its Indian subsidiary where it holds a 55.9 per cent controlling interest, reported the Bloomberg.
Reports said that the London-based company has been in talks with potential advisers about various possibilities for the team, though no final decision has been made and Diageo may choose to keep the franchise.
United Spirits quickly dismissed the speculation in a stock exchange filing, calling reports of a potential sale "speculative in nature" and adding it was "not pursuing any such discussions". Diageo declined to comment when approached.
The timing of these discussions coincides with mounting pressure from India's health ministry, which is pushing to ban all tobacco and alcohol advertising from the IPL. Current Indian law already prohibits direct promotion of these products, forcing companies like Diageo to advertise alternative products using cricket stars instead.
However, the triumph was overshadowed by tragedy when a deadly stampede during the team's victory celebrations in Bengaluru killed at least 11 people, creating reputational challenges for the franchise owners.
Diageo's connection to the team traces back to troubled aviation entrepreneur Vijay Mallya, once known as "India's Richard Branson" and "the king of good times".
Mallya was forced to sell his spirits empire to Diageo for £60 million thirteen years ago to raise funds for his failing Kingfisher Airlines, which eventually collapsed in 2012 owing roughly £1bn to banks.
The potential disposal fits with Diageo's broader strategy to streamline its global portfolio. Finance chief Nik Jhangiani recently outlined plans for "substantial" disposals beyond the "usual smaller brand disposals" as part of a £400m cost-cutting programme.
"It's clearly going to be above and beyond the usual smaller brand disposals you've seen over the last three years," Jhangiani said during the company's third-quarter update.
The company has already begun reducing its exposure in various markets, selling its Nigerian and Ghanaian Guinness operations last year and swapping Cîroc vodka rights for basketball star LeBron James-backed tequila brand Lobos 1707 in April.
Any sale would come at a time when IPL team valuations are soaring, making franchises among the most coveted assets in global sport. The league has grown into a commercial powerhouse rivalling the NFL and Premier League, with its short three-hour matches attracting hundreds of millions of viewers worldwide.
Diageo aims to generate around £2.4bn in free cash flow from 2026, supported by its cost-saving programme, to fund further investments and improve its financial position amid challenging market conditions in key regions like the US.
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Kagiso Rabada celebrates with teammate Kyle Verreynne after taking the wicket of Alex Carey during day two of the WTC Final 2025 between South Africa and Australia at Lord's on June 12, 2025. (Photo: Getty Images)
SOUTH AFRICA remain confident about chasing down a big target in the World Test Championship final at Lord’s, despite the match being dominated by the bowlers so far.
David Bedingham, who top scored with 45 in South Africa’s first innings total of 138, said the team believed they could chase whatever target Australia set.
Australia, who lead by 218 runs with two second innings wickets remaining, will resume on Friday aiming to stretch their lead further and put South Africa under more pressure.
“I think it's just an amazing chance. And I think we're all very, very excited about the opportunity to win,” Bedingham said after the second day’s play.
“Like I said, it could go either way, but I think us as a team are very, very excited and there's a lot of belief in the dressing room.”
With 28 wickets falling over the first two days, bowlers have dominated the contest so far. South Africa’s chances of chasing down the target appear challenging.
“I think when you have six quality seamers on a tricky pitch, it obviously makes batting tough. But I think the way the game's going, I think the wicket has slowed down a bit. The nicks aren't carrying," Bedingham said.
“So I think in the fourth innings, they'll maybe come a bit straighter, and hopefully we can get those runs.”
He said Australia’s bowling, led by Pat Cummins who took six wickets on Thursday, had been difficult to handle.
“Personally, I don't think the Australians gave us any bad balls. That's why they're the best in the world.
“But hopefully, going forward, we can just counteract that and win the World Test Championship. The main thing is just to 100% commit if you are defending or attacking. I think as soon as you get caught in two minds against this attack, you get found out,” he said.
The third-highest successful chase at Lord’s is England’s 277 against New Zealand three years ago. West Indies chased down 342 against England in 1984, while England scored 282 against New Zealand in 2004.
England also chased 218 against New Zealand in 1965, which is the fourth-highest successful chase at the venue.
GRASSROOTS sports education platform Sportzprix last Saturday (7) announced the launch of a digital sports marketing master’s degree for Indian talent in collaboration with UAX Rafa Nadal University School in Spain.
The nine-month course, developed by UAX Rafa Nadal University School, combines global expertise with local insight through an India module co-created by Sportzprix. The online programme will be open to graduates, working professionals and sports entrepreneurs.
“I’ve always believed in the transformative power of sport – and when paired with education, its impact becomes truly enduring,” said tennis legend and mentor Nadal.
“Sport shapes character, resilience and ambition, but academic grounding gives it direction and depth.
“The UAX Rafa Nadal School of Sport excites me because it reflects this powerful synergy – combining education, specialisation and realworld relevance. With the incredible team behind this initiative, I’m confident we’ll equip future professionals with the skills and mindset the global sports industry demands.”
Prasad Mangipudi, co-founder and CEO of Sportzprix, said, “With India bidding for global events like the Olympics and Commonwealth Games, and domestic leagues becoming bigger and more professional, the country is poised for a sports revolution.
“Shaping sports professionals in the field of marketing will play a central role in determining its future.
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Marnus Labuschagne is opening the batting for Australia for the first time in his Test career. (Photo: Getty Images)
SOUTH AFRICA captain Temba Bavuma won the toss and chose to bowl against Australia in the World Test Championship final at Lord's on Wednesday.
The conditions in London were overcast, which could assist South Africa's fast bowlers. Australia, the reigning champions, also have a strong pace attack.
Marnus Labuschagne is opening the batting for Australia for the first time in his Test career.
"We'll have a bowl first," said Bavuma at the toss. "The surface looks a good one, with solid overhead conditions.
"I'm happy. It's too late now for anything else. We've selected the best team for the conditions."
He added, "It's massive. I think all of us have some sort of allegiance to Lord's. It should be a spectacle of a game."
Australia captain Pat Cummins said they were satisfied with batting first.
"There's a few clouds but that's not unusual for England," Cummins said. "It's dry and might turn later in the match.
"I don't think there's any extra pressure (as defending champions). We've been here before and won it. This week is about enjoying it."
Both teams had announced their playing XIs on Tuesday.
For Australia, all-rounder Beau Webster stays at number six, and Josh Hazlewood has been included in the pace attack ahead of Scott Boland.
South Africa selected Wiaan Mulder at number three and chose Lungi Ngidi over Dane Paterson. Paterson is familiar with the conditions at Lord's, having played for Middlesex this season.
Kagiso Rabada returns to Test cricket after serving a one-month ban earlier this year for cocaine use.
South Africa are aiming to win their first major title since the 1998 ICC Knockout, the predecessor to the Champions Trophy.
Australia, the top-ranked Test team, won the 2023 WTC final against India and have claimed several white-ball titles.
Teams
Australia: Usman Khawaja, Marnus Labuschagne, Cameron Green, Steve Smith, Travis Head, Beau Webster, Alex Carey (wkt), Pat Cummins (capt), Mitchell Starc, Nathan Lyon, Josh Hazlewood
South Africa: Aiden Markram, Ryan Rickelton, Wiaan Mulder, Temba Bavuma (capt), Tristan Stubbs, David Bedingham, Kyle Verreynne (wkt), Marco Jansen, Keshav Maharaj, Kagiso Rabada, Lungi Ngidi
Umpires: Chris Gaffaney (NZL), Richard Illingworth (ENG) TV Umpire: Richard Kettleborough (ENG) Match Referee: Javagal Srinath (IND)
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The ICC described Dhoni as someone who redefined the role of a wicketkeeper-batter, bringing 'brute force and power-hitting' to a position traditionally filled by lower-order players. (Photo: Getty Images)
FORMER India captain MS Dhoni has been inducted into the ICC Hall of Fame for 2025, along with six other cricketers, including South Africa’s Hashim Amla and Graeme Smith, and two women players – former Pakistan captain Sana Mir and England’s Sarah Taylor.
Also inducted were Australia’s Matthew Hayden, New Zealand’s Daniel Vettori, and England’s Taylor, who joins Mir as the only two women recognised this year.
The induction ceremony was held at Abbey Road Studios in London, near Lord’s, where the World Test Championship final begins on Wednesday. Both captains – Australia’s Pat Cummins and South Africa’s Temba Bavuma – attended the event.
Dhoni’s unmatched leadership record
Dhoni, who led India to three ICC white-ball titles – the 2007 T20 World Cup, the 2011 ODI World Cup, and the 2013 Champions Trophy – was acknowledged by the ICC for his overall contribution to cricket. The former wicketkeeper-batsman scored 10,773 runs in 350 ODIs at an average of 50.57, including 10 centuries and 73 fifties. He also played 90 Tests, scoring 4,876 runs with six centuries, and 98 T20Is, with 1,617 runs.
“It is an honour to be named in the ICC Hall of Fame, which recognises the contributions of cricketers across generations and from all over the world,” said Dhoni, who played in this year’s Indian Premier League at age 43. “To have your name remembered alongside such all-time greats is a wonderful feeling. It is something that I will cherish forever.”
Dhoni remains the only captain to win all three ICC white-ball tournaments. He also led India in 60 Tests, with 27 wins, 15 losses, and 18 draws. In ODIs, he captained the side in a record 200 matches, winning 110. In T20Is, he led India in 72 games, with 41 wins.
ICC tribute: calm, consistent and unconventional
The ICC praised Dhoni’s achievements, stating, “Celebrated for his calm under pressure and unmatched tactical nous, but also a trailblazer in the shorter formats, MS Dhoni’s legacy as one of the game’s greatest finishers, leaders and wicketkeepers has been honoured with his induction into the ICC Cricket Hall of Fame.”
“With 17,266 international runs, 829 dismissals and 538 matches across formats for India, Dhoni’s numbers reflect not just excellence but extraordinary consistency, fitness and longevity,” it added.
“Dhoni’s ODI legacy is studded with records, including the most stumpings in the format (123), the highest individual score by a wicketkeeper (183*), and the most matches as captain for India (200), to name a few,” the ICC said. “His glove work defied convention. Dhoni’s technique behind the stumps was unorthodox, yet extraordinarily effective... completing stumpings in the blink of an eye, and pulling off catches with a style all his own.”
The ICC described Dhoni as someone who redefined the role of a wicketkeeper-batter, bringing “brute force and power-hitting” to a position traditionally filled by lower-order players. It said the 2007 T20 World Cup win under Dhoni sparked a new era in Indian cricket and confirmed “that the future of its leadership was in safe hands”.
Other inductees honoured
Hashim Amla, who became the first South African to score a triple century in Tests with 311 not out at the Oval in 2012, was honoured alongside his former teammate Graeme Smith. Smith, who captained South Africa in a world-record 109 Tests, said, “This is also a proud moment for South Africa, as two of us have got recognition this year.”
Amla added, “It is an honour to be inducted into the ICC Hall of Fame, especially alongside Graeme.”
Hayden was a key part of Australia’s successful sides in the early 2000s, scoring 30 Test centuries at an average above 50. Vettori, who now serves as an assistant coach with Australia, is one of only three players to score 4,000 runs and take 300 wickets in Tests.
Women stars recognised
Sarah Taylor, regarded as one of the finest wicketkeepers in women’s cricket, helped England win multiple global tournaments, including the 2017 ODI World Cup on home soil.
Pakistan’s Sana Mir, the first woman from her country to enter the ICC Hall of Fame, took 151 wickets in ODIs and led the national team to gold at the 2010 and 2014 Asian Games.
“From dreaming as a little girl that one day there would even be a women’s team in our country to now standing here, inducted among the very legends I idolised long before I ever held a bat or a ball – this is a moment I couldn’t have dared to imagine,” said Mir.