Azeem Rafiq fears he is 'unemployable' after speaking out about racism

Azeem Rafiq captained Yorkshire's T20 side in 2012 - becoming their youngest ever captain in the process

Azeem Rafiq fears speaking out about racism has made him "unemployable" within the sport.

The former Yorkshire player told MPs last year that English cricket was "institutionally" racist.

Rafiq, 31, would like to work as a cricket coach or in the media but said he feared it might not be possible.

"I feel like people are scared to be connected to me, because I will continue to fight for the truth," he told the PA news agency.

Rafiq added: "I sit here as a 31-year-old, potentially unemployable, potentially [without] any hope of being around the game in the future, a game that I've loved for the majority of my life.

"Something that I thought, after letting off the burden that I've been carrying for a long time, that I'd be able to love again and start going back towards and follow my passion within it.

"If an opportunity of work came, they would have to have me like this. I won't be prepared to look the other way any longer.

"My passion away from playing is coaching. I've completed my level four [coaching] course but didn't do the assessment because it was around the time of the DCMS [Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport] hearing.

"So that was one thing that I always wanted to do and the other thing was within a media, broadcasting. I just don't know how I can come back when the game is still not accepting the reality. Of course I'd love to [come back]."

Rafiq's testimony during the DCMS committee saw him outline the treatment inflicted upon him. He said Yorkshire acted in an "inhuman" manner after his son was still-born in 2017.

In addition, he said racist language aimed at his and others' Pakistani heritage was used "constantly" and was "never stamped out". He added that the use of the language "became the norm" at Yorkshire and people at the club "didn't think it was wrong".

His testimony led to changes in Yorkshire's leadership, Headingly being temporarily stripped of hosting international matches and the England and Wales Cricket Board putting together a 12-point plan to tackle racism in the game.

But the ex-spinner said the reaction from the sport had been disappointing, suggesting that many within the sport still insist there is not a problem.

"It hurts," he said. "Cricket as a whole still feels like there isn't a problem, which is incredibly worrying. It wants to put this across as Azeem Rafiq's experience. It's not, it's the experience of thousands of others.

"When I hear that there's sympathy for the perpetrators, people who did wrong, and I'm seen as a problem - that is difficult for me to take."