'Shut up you P***' - Former Glamorgan 2nd XI player outlines racism in the club

The former 2nd XI player of Glamorgan County Cricket Club Mohsin Arif has accused Glamorgan of institutional racism and has called them out for not having enough Asian coaches who can relate with the sentiments of the brown people and help them survive. The cricketer also narrated an incident where he was abused by an English player for speaking his mind.

The Arif interview echoed the sentiments made by Yorkshire off-spinner Azeem Rafiq in an interview last month where he had raised similar concerns for the brown players in England’s domestic circuit.

Recalling an incident of facing racist abuse, Mohsin stated that during a game in 2005, a contracted Glamorgan player had verbally abused him for giving few cricket tips to an Indian teammate.

“I was in the pavilion and I shouted out in Hindi just a couple of words [to an Indian teammate who was a student at Cardiff University]: ‘don’t try and hit it, just look for ones and twos,’” said Arif as quoted by The Telegraph.

According to Arif, an opposing player, who had a contract with Glamorgan at the time, fired back at Arif, saying– “Shut up you P***. Why are you speaking like that? Haven’t you got your corner shop to go to?”

There should have been more Asian coaches: Mohsin Arif

Further in the interaction, Arif revealed that the absence of Asian coaches was a big problem for the non-white players as other coaches hardly empathised with them. He also hurled allegations on the Glamorgan support staff saying that the coaches were always ready to help white players by giving them tips but they hardly interacted with brown-skinned people.

“Yes. There was definitely not enough support there for Asians. Glamorgan didn’t give a damn about me. I never really felt comfortable, even though I’m Cardiff born and bred, and I never got the opportunities. If the coaches saw you [a non-white player] do something, they’d just let you carry on.

But if they saw a kid of non-brown colour or non-coloured skin, they would be happy to talk to them, giving tips. There should have been more Asian coaches so they could understand that people’s backgrounds are different,” the 36-year-old concluded.

Responding to the serious allegations of institutional racism made by Arif, Glamorgan released a statement which reckoned that they are deeply concerned with the claims made by Mohsin and will take adequate steps to engage with diverse communities so that no other player has to face discrimination on the basis of their skin colour.

“We are deeply concerned to learn of Mohsin’s experience within our game in Wales. Recent societal events have led us all to evaluate our roles in being inclusive and diverse and we all in cricket recognise the need to change our sport for the better.

Cricket is not where it should be and we are obviously saddened that Mohsin’s experience confirms that. For us, this begins on our own doorstep and we are actively taking steps to engage with diverse communities in Wales to make cricket more accessible, inclusive, and diverse for all,” the statement read.