New parliamentary hearing on racism in cricket set for December | Cricket News

A further parliamentary evidence session on racism in cricket will be held in December ahead of the expected publication of the Independent Commission for Equity in Cricket’s report.

The session will follow up on last November’s hearing with Azeem Rafiq, where the former Yorkshire skipper revealed harrowing detail about the discrimination he experienced during his time at the Headingley club.

The Department of Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) session is scheduled for Tuesday, December 13, when MPs will examine the progress being made on tackling racism and discrimination in cricket.

It will also look at the actions being taken by the England and Wales Cricket Board and the ongoing experiences of players, supporters and others involved in the sport.

It comes with the Independent Commission, which was set up by the governing body, due to publish its report in the new year.

Yorkshire were suspended from hosting international matches by the ECB for their “wholly unacceptable” handling of Rafiq’s racism allegations before that ban was lifted earlier this year.

Lord Kamlesh Patel is now chair of Yorkshire with previous incumbent Roger Hutton resigning in the wake of the racism scandal.

Rafiq was one of five cricketers reprimanded by the ECB for historic social media posts last month.

“The deep-rooted scourge of racism in cricket that was laid bare in our session with Azeem Rafiq will take determined and sustained action to address,” chair of the DCMS committee Julian Knight MP said.

“As we heard from Kick It Out this week, there is still a long way to go before the sport gets its house in order – a fact illustrated by the unacceptable treatment of those that have put their head above the parapet to expose the game’s faults.

“A year on the Committee will be exploring just what progress has been made in cleaning up the game, both at Yorkshire and in the wider cricketing community.

“With stories in the media from the last 12 months suggesting that racism and discrimination still pervades the sport, we would welcome hearing ahead of our session from any player, supporter or administrator about their experiences.”

The DCMS Committee’s report in January recommended public funding for cricket be dependent on the ECB making demonstrable progress in ridding racism from all areas of the spot, with progress measured against key indicators.

On Tuesday, Tony Burnett, chief executive of Kick It Out, told the Committee the anti-racism group had been working with people within cricket to help tackle some of the issues, but that the challenge was ‘huge’ and ‘significant resources’ would be needed to be successful.