Derbyshire’s Anuj Dal tells MPs that ‘Kevin’ WAS used as a racial slur after Azeem Rafiq claim

Derbyshire all-rounder Anuj Dal has told MPs he has heard ‘Kevin’ used as a slur towards non-white cricketers and that racism remains a ‘game-wide issue’.

Whistleblower Azeem Rafiq accused former team-mate Gary Ballance of using ‘Kevin’ as a derogatory nickname for players of colour during their time together at Yorkshire, claiming it was an ‘open secret’ in the England dressing room.

Now Dal, who is vice-chair of the Professional Cricketers’ Association, has suggested the term was also used by players at other counties.

Professional Cricketers’ Association vice-chair and Derbyshire player Anuj Dal told the DCMS committee that ‘Kevin’ was used as a derogatory term for non-white players 

Asked at a Digital, Culture, Media and Sport committee hearing on Tuesday if he had come across the racist nickname, Dal said: ‘I had heard the term.’

Dal, 25, refused to divulge where he had heard it but added: ‘There are issues in the game as a whole. Clearly, it’s not just at Yorkshire, it’s within the whole game.

‘I’ve experienced these sorts of things personally. At times in my career, I have had to face issues I felt uncomfortable with.

‘There were incidents growing up where Asian players were stereotyped as being lazy.

It came after former Yorkshire player Azeem Rafiq accused former team-mate Gary Ballance of using ‘Kevin’ as a derogatory nickname for players of colour

‘I remember specific hand gestures that were made for players of colours and comments made whilst senior members of staff laughed along. That was particularly heartbreaking.

‘I certainly think at the moment it’s a game-wide issue.’

Dal, who is of Indian descent, revealed he recently received a ‘personal message from a former player’ apologising for ‘some of the comments he made to me within a dressing room’.

He also said that a drinking culture within cricket acted as a barrier to young players from Asian backgrounds.

‘At a club level, there is quite a big emphasis on drinking,’ added Dal. ‘My own beliefs were against that and I felt as it was always harder to feel socially accepted.

Dal bats for Derbyshire during a County Championship match against Middlesex last year

‘The social norm is to go out and have a drink, which is an issue for players of backgrounds and faiths that don’t choose that to be acceptable. I think they certainly can be barriers from a team perspective.’

Dal was asked by committee chair Julian Knight if he felt cricket needed a ‘truth and reconciliation commission’ on racism and he replied: ‘I think it certainly does. From what we’ve seen in the past couple of years, it has brought certain issues to light.’

PCA chief executive Rob Lynch, meanwhile, apologised for the union’s handling of Rafiq’s racism complaint against Yorkshire, after the player described the organisation as ‘inept’.

Dal, who is of Indian descent, is the latest cricketer to give evidence to a DCMS hearing 

‘We had some failings in our dealings with Azeem,’ said Lynch. ‘We have learnt a lot of lessons from the last 12 months.

‘Clearly with this dispute with Yorkshire we did not meet the standards we would have wished to and we have apologised to him directly for where we went wrong.’

Lynch revealed that ‘around 20’ players had come forward ‘who were victims of, or accused of, racism in the game’ since Rafiq gave evidence in front of the DCMS committee in November.

PCA non-executive chair Julian Metherell also said that Rafiq would be involved in the education programme being rolled out by the union.