Yorkshire County Cricket Club has already got earned a bad reputation in racism. This time Somerset seamer Jack Brooks apologised for using a racist term against Indian cricketer Cheteshwar Pujara during his time at Yorkshire. He nicknamed Cheteshwar Pujara “Steve”. He also begged pardon for using racist language in a tweet dated back to 2012.
He said “I acknowledge that the language used in two tweets I made in 2012 was unacceptable and I deeply regret using it. I unreservedly apologise for any offence caused to anybody who may have seen these tweets,” This was reported by ESPNcricinfo.
Earlier, Brooks had featured in Azeem Rafiq’s testimony in the Department for Digital, Culture, media and Sport select committee. Rafiq confirmed that Brooks had the habit of referring Pujara as “Steve”.
Further he added “With reference to my naming in Azeem Rafiq’s statement to MPs this week, the use of the name ‘Steve’ related to some people having difficult names to pronounce. When this has occurred in the past in a dressing room environment, it has been commonplace to give nicknames, regardless of creed or race. I admit to having used it in this context and now accept that it was disrespectful and wrong to do so. “I have reached out and apologised to Cheteshwar for any offence that I have caused him or his family. At the time I didn’t recognise this as racist behaviour, but I can now see that it was not acceptable.”
On Sunday evening , Somerset County Cricket Cub finally acknowledged the allegations regarding one of the players , Jack Brooks. the investigation is still continuing. It will be wrong for the club to make any public statement until the process stops. A final statement will be released after full investigation.
After Yorkshire racism allegations got public, the sponsors have withdrawn their contracts , top administrators have resigned and the county got barred from hosting International matches.
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