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https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/cricket/59338118
More banter , Azeem Rafiq has apologised and said he is "deeply ashamed" for using anti-Semitic language in messages from 2011.
The 30-year-old said he had "absolutely no excuses" for the messages.
"I am incredibly angry at myself and apologise to the Jewish community,"*he said in a statement. ( should imagine others are angry and also regret thier poor comments )
"I have absolutely no excuses. I am ashamed of this exchange," he said.
"I was 19 at the time and hope and believe I am a different person today."
Banter ,racism ,stupidity??
I think there's a reason Rafiq and Ballance got on so well, because they were both cocky, arrogant, bigoted t*ssers.
It's all been a bit of a one-way verbal assassination on anyone who Rafiq thinks has made racist/derogatory comments to him in the past 15 yrs., yet everyone accused has denied doing so. Michael Vaughan lost his job. Did any of the alleged incidents happen ? I'm sure some did, but this bloke has been given free-rein for days, in front of media, MP's etc. Perhaps now the hysteria will abate a little.
I think it tells us what we all really know that edgy lad like banter exists everywhere.
I hazard a guess it exists between India and Pakistan , question is does it make them racists or is it simply behaviour from an age where we didn't really realise its impact on others and folk like a show off comment to grab a reaction or laugh .
Bloody hell cricket really does have a big, big problem.
This has muddied the water somewhat. I stand by the fact that the word banter is used as an excuse and it's likely to be a big problem throughout the men's game. Cricket has not come out of this well. The Guardian article cited earlier makes the very valid point that all of this dirty washing needs to be made public and everyone owns their mistakes (like SA is doing).
It seems to me that the game needs a kick into the 21st century and I've felt this for a while now. The laddish, cricketer behaviour seems stuck in the past and makes football look good. I haven't liked the England side or setup for a long time and hate the old colonial feel to it. I even hate the fact Wales is tagged on but unrepresented (Scotland made that situation look even more stupid during the T20s recently).
This was a very public and widespread testimony by Rafiq and he's made himself and his supporters (of which I am one) look a tad foolish. He should rightly feel very sheepish.
I said I didn't doubt he had been subjected to racism/derogatory comments, I was making the point that a number of people have been accused of stuff without any chance to defend themselves. Joe Root denied knowing of anything happening but Rafiq was smart enough to paint him out to be a liar. Rafiq called Lloyd 'a closet racist' - that's his opinion, it doesn't mean Lloyd is a closet racist, but it will stick, no doubt. Another asian Yorkshire player [can't recall his name], has stated he wasn't aware of any racism at the club, but Rafiq hasn't called him out..
You are right ,I think the accused should have thier day in front of the same committee to enable a full picture of how the remarks were made ie in drunken moments,
joint banter from each side and describe the environment the remarks were made , it doesn't make the remarks right in fact they are poor , its just needs a full known context of the complete situation it took place in as a learning moment for others who may fall into tge same poor banter .
I watched Rafiq’s testimony on Tuesday and, off the top of my head, the only people he made accusations against who haven’t made some sort of comment on the matter are Martyn Moxon the former England batsman who has been a coach for years at Durham and Yorkshire and is currently off work suffering from stress and Andrew Gale the current Yorkshire coach who was suspended by the county as a result of an anti Semitic tweet he made ten years ago. David Lloyd has apologised for comments about Rafiq in particular and Asian cricketers in general, that will be more than enough for many to think, rightly or wrongly, that he’s a racist without having to take what Rafiq thinks into account. Ajmal Shahzad was the fourth of the players of Asian descent that Michael Vaughans “too many of you” comments we’re supposed to have been directed at, he denies hearing them and has said he did not experience racism at Yorkshire, but the fact remains that there have been multiple resignations at the county in the last couple of weeks, so there’s clearly a problem there.
Turns out Rafiq’s an hypocrite?..