English cricket’s dark reality!

The whole world witnessed how cricketers across the countries have been taking the knee to show their support for Black Lives Matter movement during the T20 World Cup held in UAE recentlyHowever it seems the crisis still sticks with England who invented the game of cricket in the 16th century Former firstclass cricketers and international umpires have called for accountability from the England and Wales Cricket Boardrsquos ECB This comes at a time when English cricket is in the throes of controversy surrounding Karachiborn Azeem Rafiqrsquos claims that he was a victim of racial slurs and discriminationYorkshireborn England U19 wicketkeeperbatsman and firstclass cricketerturnedcounty umpire Ismail Dawood 45 has raised some serious concerns even in the field of umpiring ldquoIn my opinion it is because we are looked upon as subhuman compared to our white counterparts White umpires have always been given preferential treatment White umpires have been fast tracked for decades with the ECB accepting that the correct procedures have not been followed If that is the case then where is the accountabilityrdquo asked DawoodSussexbased former Tripura cricketer Raj ChaudhuriDawood represented the England U19 team against India in 1994 and versus West Indies and South Africa in 1995 He represented Northamptonshire Worcestershire Glamorgan and Yorkshire from 1993 to 2005 scoring 1122 firstclass runs from 39 games and had 100 victims to his name behind the wickets Selected selectionDawood who umpired 16 firstclass matches as well as in two womenrsquos oneday internationals added ldquoThe ECB hasnrsquot employed a nonwhite umpire for 29 years I think that tells a story considering the number of people from a nonwhite background who have wanted to officiate at the highest levelrdquoFormer Hampshire seamer John Holder 76 who officiated in 11 Tests and 23 ODIs including the 198990 India v Pakistan series where Sachin Tendulkar made his debut pointed to the main causeldquoIt is not just Indian umpires who have been overlooked Up to the end of the 2020 season no nonwhite umpires were employed by the ECB Only whites had been taken on and were specially chosen by Mr Chris Kelly Umpires Manager at the Cricket Operations Department The last nonwhite umpire to be employed by the ECB was Vanburn Holder the former Barbados West Indies and Worcestershire fast bowlerrdquo Holder remarked ldquoIn 2005 Devon Malcolm former England pacer applied to become a county umpire but was told there were no vacancies Yet white umpires were taken onlsquoRacist policyrsquoldquoFormer Indian firstclass cricketer Raj Rajarshi Chaudhuri told me that he asked an ECB official if he could be put on the Boardrsquos fast track umpires scheme He was refused and told that the scheme is solely for former firstclass players from England and Australia who had played firstclass cricket in those countries This was clearly to keep the ECBrsquos firstclass panel allwhite In my opinion the ECB has deliberately adopted a racist policy by rejecting all nonwhite applicants to the firstclass panelrdquo Holder allegedChaudhuri 50 a former Tripura and East Zone cricketer scored 1288 runs from 25 firstclass games across 198990 and 200001 He also played Premier League cricket in the UK New Zealand South Africa and Bangladesh and became an ECB Level 2 umpireldquoAlthough there was a fast track system for former firstclass players in place I was denied as I had played my firstclass cricket in India When that happened I realised there was no point in wasting my time and gave up umpiring and concentrated on coaching at my academy called First Class Cricket Academy in Sussex and Worth Schoolrdquo said Chaudhuri who moved to the UK in 2002 Emails sent to ECBrsquos head of firstclass cricket Alan Fordham and Kelly regarding racist alleged claims were unansweredHolder We are branded as troublemakers if we object to sarcastic commentsFormer international umpire John Holder pointed to the root cause of concern and explained why racism still continues in some parts of the world ldquoRacism is the feeling of superiority by one race over another and white people are the main culprits Many of them feel that they are superior in all respects to nonwhites and basically that we do not have the same feelings and aspirations as them As a result they make sarcastic comments which they feel we should accept And if we object we are branded as troublemakers who are unable to take a jokerdquo Holder remarked