Azeem Rafiq, Danielle Wyatt among five cricketers reprimanded by ECB for historic social media posts

The England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) reprimanded five former and current cricketers on Monday (October 10) over their old social media posts. The historical posts on social media by Jack Brooks, Andrew Gale, Azeem Rafiq and women’s team star Danielle Wyatt and Evelyn Jones were found to be prejudicial in nature by the Cricket Discipline Commission (CDC) of the ECB.

The five cricketers had been charged earlier this year for breaching the ECB Directve 3.3 which mentions no such actions should be taken that “may be prejudicial to the interests of cricket or which may bring the game of cricket or any cricketer or group of cricketers into disrepute”.

Jones and Wyatt also admitted to breachin the ECB Directive 3.4 which urges all cricketers to abide by the anti-discrimination code. The five players will face no further action as Chris Tickle, the CDC Adjucator decided that a reprimand will be enough in all five cases.

Also Read: ‘Made a mistake’: Carles Puyol apologises for his ‘clumsy joke’ on Iker Casillas’ ‘I am gay’ tweet

Rafiq, who was under the spotlight last year and earlier this year after his accusations of institutional racism in the Yorkshire cricket club, was reprimanded for anti-semitic posts on Facebook. Former Yorkshire coach Gale was sanctioned for his offensive old posts on Twitter.

Rafiq, who had earlier spoken against facing racism in England cricket, said he was “ashamed and embarrassed” for his own ant-Semic comments during a social media exchange with his former England U-19 teammate Ateeq Javed in 2011. The duo had referred to a third unknown teammate as a ‘Jew’ for failing to pay his bill.

Reacting to the Cricket Discipline Commission’s decision to reprimand him, Rafiq said the punishment is ‘deserved’ and that he will fully accept the panel’s judgement. He also stated that he wishes to repeat his apology to the Jewish community.

Also Read: Nepal cricketer Sandeep Lamichhane sent to 7-day police remand over rape allegations

Meanwhile, former Somerset all-rounder Brooks was reprimanded for a post on Twitter which included racist language directed towards current England pacer Tymal Mills. England cricket was rocked by racism claims last year and the board has since taken a strict stand against any incidents relating to discrimination and has been reprimanding the players for their previous actions.