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The ghost of institutional racism is back to haunt England Cricket

After Yorkshire cricketer and former England U-19 captain Azeem Rafiq’s revelation of how ‘institutional racism’ had pushed him to have near-suicidal tendencies, a fresh set of allegations have now been leveled at England Cricket Board by former Test umpire John Holder and former County cricketer Ismail Dawood.  

Holder, who officiated in 11 Tests and 19 ODIs in an umpiring career spanning three decades said, "I've lived in England for 56 years. And I can tell you, hand on heart, I have never experienced racism before. But when you look at these figures, when you understand what is going on, it is hard to reach any other conclusion.”

Divulging details of what made him believe about Institutional racism, Holder narrates a story. "When I stopped working for the ICC, I contacted the ECB to offer my services to mentor umpires. I didn't even get a reply,” he told 'ESPNcricinfo

"Instead, ex-players, some of whom have never stood as umpires, were appointed to the role. That is ludicrous. It's like employing someone who can't drive to be a driving instructor,” the former Umpire added.

Vanburn Holder, appointed in 1992, who played in 40 Tests and 12 ODIs for the West Indies, was the last non-white umpire on the ECB's first-class list.

Ismail Dawood has played for Northamptonshire, Worcestershire, Glamorgan, and Yorkshire and has worked in other sectors in England apart from cricket as well. But according to him, he hasn’t seen a more archaic and institutionalized level of racism, almost comparable to the colonial era, as is practiced in England cricket.

He couldn’t make umpiring a career as he couldn’t win promotion to the panel following

“Some of this language was used in front of senior ECB managers, which I found extremely disturbing," Dawood said in the statement.

“Having worked in different progressive sectors to cricket, I feel the ECB is the last colonial outpost, it is archaic, and any change is mere marketing rhetoric," he added.

Dawood said that it seems he has, ‘encountered racial discrimination, dishonesty, and misinformation, cronyism, bullying’ at the ECB, and all of that is deeply rooted in the organization.

According to him, England cricket is an ‘isolating place’ for a person from a (Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic) BAME background.

However, the ECB replied by saying that it is trying its level best to make sure that BAME representation among its officials is maintained in a good proportion. "Today's group of professional umpires doesn’t reflect the diverse ECB we are determined to be. We want to see more, and recognize we still have a long way to go as a game to achieve this,” it’s official release said.

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