Racism in cricket: PCA 'got it wrong' over Azeem Rafiq case, says union's chief executive Rob Lynch

Professional Cricketers' Association chief executive Rob Lynch says the union «got it wrong» with Azeem Rafiq's racism allegations against Yorkshire.

Former spinner Rafiq told the Digital, Culture, Media and Sport select committee in November that the PCA's stance was «incredibly inept».

Lynch told the committee on Tuesday that the PCA «should have stepped in» during Yorkshire's investigation.

«We had some failings and have learnt a lot of lessons,» he said.

«We applaud Azeem for his courage and bravery for being a whistleblower to create the necessary change within the game.

»PCA have offered support to Azeem throughout his career but clearly in this dispute with Yorkshire we did not meet the standards we would have wished to.

«We have apologised to him for where we went wrong. We have listened to Azeem about the issues in the game and what can be done better, and a number of changes have been introduced.»

The PCA is the representative body for male and female players in England and Wales, and Lynch was one of four PCA representatives who spoke before the DCMS select committee.

They criticised Yorkshire's handling of Rafiq's allegations and admitted racism was a problem in wider cricket, but said improvements were being made.

Rafiq first spoke about his experiences of racism in September 2020. Since then, Yorkshire County Cricket Club have carried out an investigation that has been heavily criticised.

«Azeem was right,» Lynch said. «One of the key learnings that we have made is that we should have put more public pressure on both Yorkshire and the ECB [England and Wales Cricket Board].

»What we did was put too much faith in the process that Yorkshire were undertaking, or at least telling us they were undertaking. That was wrong.

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