Azeem Rafiq believes that the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) have "realised they messed up" in handling recent allegations of bullying and racism in cricket.
A day after delivering emotional testimony to the DCMS select committee on the abuse and bullying he suffered during his time at Yorkshire, Rafiq spoke to Sky Sports about the potential repercussions, including his opinion that the national governing body for cricket is unlikely to allow similar occurrences again.
The 30-year-old also expressed his belief that the "floodgates" may now open for similar complaints from within the game, and that these must be taken more seriously than his own allegations were.
"I do feel now it's going to be floodgates [opening] and a lot of victims of abuse are going to come forward and we need to listen to them, hear them, support them and work out a plan to make sure this doesn't happen again," he said.
"I think you're going to get [complaints] into the hundreds and thousands, possibly, and I think it's the way they handle it. We've got here because of Yorkshire's handling of this.
"Yes, what happened was completely unacceptable but the way they've handled it has made it a lot bigger and showed them for what they are, so it depends how the game and individual counties handle it.
"I think the ECB have realised they messed up as well and they're not going to let another episode like this occur."
Rafiq also said he feels the positions of Yorkshire's director of cricket Martyn Moxon, and head coach Andrew Gale, are untenable, but there is potentially a route back for his former team-mate Gary Ballance.
All three were named by Rafiq during his testimony to the committee on Tuesday.
"They need to hear from me the effect their behaviour left me in, and I'd like to hear from them why. Why they felt that was all right but it's important we don't go to individuals and think about the institution, because these guys came into this place and were shaped by the culture and the environment," he added.
"I don't think Martyn and Andrew can [continue in their roles]. I think Gary – if he apologises properly and has some sort of acceptance and accountability – he should be allowed to play.
"But in terms of Andrew and Martyn, I don't think it's possible for Yorkshire to move forward with them still in there knowing full well what sort of role they played in that institution."
Dottin among nominees for ICC Women’s Player of the Month for October
West Indies all-rounder Deandra Dottin has been named among the three nominees for the ICC Women’s Player of the Month award for the month of October.
Dottin made her comeback for the national side at the ICC Women’s T20 World Cup in the UAE, and was a driving force as the islanders reached their first semi-final at the event since 2018.
She was instrumental in victories over Scotland and Bangladesh, but saved her most valuable contributions for the latter stages, where she shone with the bat, ball and in the field in their group stage win over England, before producing a memorable individual display with 33 runs and four wickets in the thrilling semi-final defeat to eventual champions New Zealand.
Dottin will be going up against New Zealand’s Amelia Kerr and South Africa’s Laura Wolvaardt for the award.
The nominees for the Men’s award are New Zealand’s Mitchell Santner, Pakistan’s Noman Ali and South Africa’s Kagiso Rabada.
Kevin Sinclair replaced by Junior Sinclair in Harpy Eagles Super50 squad after internal report to GCB
All-rounder Kevin Sinclair will take no further part in the Guyana Harpy Eagles CG United Super50 Cup campaign in Trinidad and Tobago. The decision made by the Guyana Cricket Board (GCB) followed the submission of an internal report by the Harpy Eagles' management team that it was necessary to replace the player.
The GCB, in making the revelation, also announced that Kevin Sinclair will be replaced by Junior Sinclair in the squad at the tournament.
Though the GCB’s statement did not clarify if sub-standard performance is the reason behind Kevin Sinclair’s ejection from the squad, it pointed out that it was a “necessary squad adjustment.”
“Following an internal report from the Guyana Harpy Eagles management, it has been decided that Kevin Sinclair will no longer be participating in this year’s competition,” the statement read.
In the three matches played in the Super50 Cup, Kevin Sinclair tallied 14 runs and snared three wickets.
He made 14 from 16 balls against Windward Volcanoes and took 2-66 from 10 overs in the same match.
However, he did not bat in the rained-out contest against Combined Campuses and Colleges Marooners and was dismissed without a score against Barbados Pride and only took 1-26 from 10 overs in that same match.
The Guyana Harpy Eagles are winless after three matches.
A similar situation arose last year during the Caribbean Premier League (CPL) T20 tournament when organisers announced Kevin left the Guyana Amazon Warriors squad for “personal reasons.”
Kevin Sinclair’s departure opens the door for Junior Sinclair to take up a spot in the Harpy Eagles squad ahead of Tuesday’s contest against Leeward Islands Hurricanes at the Brian Lara Cricket Academy.
Guyana Harpy Eagles Squad: Tagenarine Chanderpaul, Matthew Nandu, Tevin Imlach (captain), Kevlon Anderson, Kemol Savory, Junior Sinclair, Keemo Paul (vice-captain), Ronaldo Aimohamed, Veerasammy Permaul, Isai Thorne, Ashmead Nedd, Nial Smith, Sylus Tyndall, Rampertab Ramnauth.
Salt confirmed as England wicketkeeper despite Buttler return for West Indies T20Is
Phil Salt will be wicketkeeper in England’s upcoming T20I series against West Indies as white-ball captain Jos Buttler looks to improve his captaincy.
Buttler has been ruled out with a calf strain but will return to England's squad for the five-match T20I series that begins on Saturday.
Until now, Salt has kept in just 13 of his 59 England appearances across all formats but has taken up the mantle for the ongoing ODI series against West Indies.
Buttler, on the other hand, has donned the gloves in 106 of his 108 T20Is.
Salt, though, is enjoying his new role.
"It's not something I've done a lot for England recently, but I enjoy keeping. I feel like that's where I offer most to the side," Salt said, as reported by ESPN.
"We've not had a chat about anything going forward. I'm just glad to be doing it at the moment."
While Salt is not guaranteed the gloves after this series, he will find comfort in Buttler's intent to optimise his captaincy by experimenting with a role in the field.
"I was going to give up the gloves and commit to being at mid-off and see how that felt. If it will help me with my captaincy it is something I am open to," Buttler told Sky Sports in September after being ruled out of the T20 series against Australia.
England are tied 1-1 in their ODI series against the West Indies with the decider to be played on Wednesday.
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