David Lloyd issues an apology and expresses 'deep regret' for making an offensive comment about the Asian cricket community after Azeem Rafiq named the commentator during DCMS committee hearing in Westminster

David Lloyd has apologised and expressed 'deep regret' after it emerged that the cricket pundit made an offensive comment about the Asian cricket community.

Former England cricketer and Sky Sports pundit Lloyd was named by Azeem Rafiq during a select committee hearing on Tuesday as the former Yorkshire star lifted the lid on the racist abuse he received while playing for the county club.

Lloyd has taken to Twitter to apologise for a comment made in October 2020, insisting that he is 'strongly committed to making cricket a more inclusive sport'.


'In October 2020, I had a private message exchange with a third party involved in cricket, about a number of topics,' he posted. 

'In these messages, I referred to allegations about Azeem Rafiq which I had heard from within the game. I also made some comments about the Asian cricket community. 

'I deeply regret my actions, and I apologise most sincerely to Azeem and to the Asian cricket community for doing this, and for any offence caused. 

David Lloyd has apologised after being named by Azeem Rafiq amid cricket's racism storm

David Lloyd has apologised after being named by Azeem Rafiq amid cricket's racism storm

Rafiq named Bumble among a host of  figures in cricket to have made offensive comments

Rafiq named Bumble among a host of  figures in cricket to have made offensive comments

Lloyd expressed 'deep regret' for the comment he made in a statement posted on Twitter

Lloyd expressed 'deep regret' for the comment he made in a statement posted on Twitter

'I am strongly committed to making cricket a more inclusive sport. It is very obvious now that more work needs to be done and I will do everything I can to remove discrimination from the sport I love, and the sport that has been my life for over 50 years.'  

Lloyd's statement comes after Rafiq labelled English cricket as 'institutionally racist' and detailed his 'inhumane' treatment at Yorkshire County Cricket Club. 

The spin bowler turned whistleblower claimed the word P*** was 'used constantly' at the side as he gave explosive testimony to the Digital, Culture, Media and Sport Select Committee this morning.

The spin bowler told the Digital, Culture, Media and Sport Committee racism was rife at the side and no one in leadership challenged it. He is pictured as he began to weep during the testimony

The spin bowler told the Digital, Culture, Media and Sport Committee racism was rife at the side and no one in leadership challenged it. He is pictured as he began to weep during the testimony

Gary Ballance  (pictured playing for England against South Africa in July 2017) is among the cricket stars accused of being racist between 2008 and 2018 by Rafiq

Gary Ballance  (pictured playing for England against South Africa in July 2017) is among the cricket stars accused of being racist between 2008 and 2018 by Rafiq

Rafiq hit out at England Test captain Joe Root (pictured), claiming he was on those nights out where he was called a 'P***'. But he said Root was a good man
He claimed fellow international star Alex Hales named his black dog Kevin after Ballance often used it as a term for black people

Rafiq hit out at England Test captain Joe Root (left), claiming he was on those nights out where he was called a 'P***'. But he later said Root was a good man. He claimed fellow international star Hales (right) named his black dog Kevin after Ballance often used it as a term for black people

In one shocking claim, he gave a harrowing account of having red wine forced down his throat by older players at his local team when he was 15 and a devout Muslim - before he drank more heavily from 2012 'to try to fit in'.

Rafiq claimed when he first joined Yorkshire he and other Asian players were told they had to 'sit near the toilets' and were called 'elephant washers'.

The athlete also launched another broadside at former teammate Gary Ballance, saying it was an open secret in the England dressing room he was racist.

Meanwhile he claimed fellow international star Alex Hales named his black Dobermann Kevin after his friend Ballance used it to refer to black people.

And he hit out at current England Test captain Joe Root, claiming the batsman was on the nights out when he was called a 'P***'.

During the wide-ranging hearing, Rafiq blinked back tears as he opened up about the 'inhumane' treatment he received from coaches after his wife had a miscarriage in 2017.

His emotional testimony had to be brought to an abrupt halt by DCMS chair Julian Knight and adjourned for five minutes so the cricketer could recompose himself.

Downing Street described his evidence to the committee as 'concerning', with the Prime Minister's official spokesman adding: 'There is no place for racism in sport.'

Rafiq said the problem at Yorkshire was replicated 'up and down the country'. 

He described England and Wales Cricket Board initiatives on diversity as 'box-ticking' exercises and 'tokenism'. He said former England coach David 'Bumble' Lloyd had talked about Rafiq's drinking.

Lloyd insisted he is committed to making cricket a more inclusive game following Rafiq's case

Lloyd insisted he is committed to making cricket a more inclusive game following Rafiq's case

He added: 'He'd been an England coach and commentator and I found it disturbing, because Sky is supposedly doing this amazing work on bringing racism to the front and within a week of me speaking out, that's what I got sent to me and I thought, 'God, there are some closet racists and I need to do something about it'.'

Rafiq added: 'I think with four or five months left on my contract, I was encouraged to sign a confidentiality form and take a parcel of money which I refused.

'At that time it would have been a lot of money for me. I think my wife was struggling. I knew I was struggling.

'There was no way mentally I could have even considered putting myself through this trauma. I actually left the country. I went to Pakistan. I never wanted to come back.' 

Which England stars has Azeem Rafiq dragged into explosive cricket row and what has he claimed?

  • Gary Ballance:

Rafiq said he started medication due to his deteriorating mental health and left Yorkshire for the first time in 2014. When he returned he initially felt settled under captain Alex Lees and coach Jason Gillespie.

'Jason left in 2016 and it just felt the temperature in the room had been turned up,' Rafiq said. 'You had Andrew Gale coming in as coach and Gary Ballance as captain. For the first time I started to see for what it was - I felt isolated, humiliated at times. Constant use of the word 'P***'.'

Rafiq said on a 2017 pre-season tour Ballance had racially abused him. 'We were in a place and Gary Ballance walks over and goes, 'Why are you talking to him? You know he's a P***'. This happened in front of team-mates. It happened in front of coaching staff.'

He added: 'He would constantly talk down to me and make racist jokes, designed to undermine me and make me feel small, like coming up and interrupting when I was talking to girls in a club, saying 'don't talk to him, he's a P***'. I remember crying outside a nightclub after his constant racist taunting.

'On those bus trips, he would look out for corner shops and make comments like 'does your dad own these?' Gary would often make comments like this on YCCC [Yorkshire County Cricket Club] bus trips, in the dressing room, or at events — and in front of YCCC coaches, staff and management, including our coach, Andrew Gale, [the coach] Richard Pyrah, director of cricket Martyn Moxon, and club president Dickie Bird. But nothing was said or done to stop it. Instead, they often laughed along.'

Ballance admitted using a 'racial slur' towards Rafiq in a lengthy statement this month, apologising but framing it as part of their friendship. Rafiq told the committee that was not an accurate depiction of their relationship, saying it went downhill from 2013 onwards and had become toxic by 2017.

  • Alex Hales:

Rafiq also alleged former England batter Alex Hales was involved, saying: 'Gary and Alex Hales got really close to each other when they played for England together. I wasn't present in that dressing room, but what I understand (is) that Alex went on to name his dog 'Kevin' because it was black. It's disgusting how much of a joke it was.'

  • Michael Vaughan:

Asked about Vaughan, Rafiq said: 'Michael might not remember it... three of us, Adil, myself and Rana remember it.

'He clearly had a snippet of my statement. He used his platform at the Daily Telegraph to tell everyone he hadn't said these things. To go on and put a snippet of my statement out and talk about other things, I thought was completely wrong. He probably doesn't remember it because it doesn't mean anything to him.'

  • Tim Bresnan:

Rafiq make claims over the former England player's behaviour at the club, saying he was among 'six or seven' players to have made a bullying complaint against the star in 2017. But he added that he was the only one of those players who was of colour.

He said: 'Tim is Andrew's [Gale's] brother-in-law. They always supported each other. Tim would tag along and join in with Andrew's racist comments and they bounced off each other in terms of the bullying. As with Andrew, Tim frequently made racist comments and was unduly harsh towards me compared to white British players, which became so unbearable that I made a formal complaint against him in 2017.'

  • Matthew Hoggard:

Rafiq said: 'It was Hoggy who started calling me 'Raffa the Kaffir'. It was only later I realised what 'Kaffir' meant, how it was used, and that it was a racist term. Comments from Hoggy towards myself and the other Asian players — Adil, Ajmal and Rana — were constant.

'He might have thought it was just dressing room banter, but we would come in in the morning and he would say things like 'you lot sit over there' and make us all sit together. He would also call us things like 'elephant washers' and 'P***'. Rafiq said Matthew Hoggard apologised to him after watching him being interviewed about his experience at Yorkshire.

He said: 'I took a phone call from Matthew and he just said, 'Look, I didn't realise, I'm really sorry. If some of the comments I made made you feel the way you've described it, I just want to apologise'. You know what, when someone does that, I was like, 'Thank you, I really appreciate it'.'

  • Joe Root:

Rafiq said he found it 'hurtful' England captain Root said he had never witnessed anything of a racist nature at Yorkshire. 'Rooty is a good man. He never engaged in racist language,' Rafiq said.

'I found it hurtful because Rooty was Gary (Ballance)'s housemate and had been involved in a lot of the socialising where I was called a 'P***'. It shows how normal it was that even a good man like him doesn't see it for what it was. It's not going to affect Joe, but it's something I remember every day.'

  • David 'Bumble' Lloyd:

Rafiq claimed: 'There were denial, briefings, cover-ups, smearing, high-profile media people messaging other members of the media who supported me saying stuff like 'the clubhouse is the lifeblood of a club and Asian players don't go in there', and 'getting subs out of Asian players is like getting blood out of a stone'.

'And then personally, this guy doesn't even know me, has never spent any time with me, talking about my personal drinking, going out and socialising. That was David Lloyd, he's been an England coach, commentator and I found it disturbing. Within a week of me speaking out that's what I got sent to me, and I thought, 'God, there's some closet racists and we need to do something about it'.'

  • Jack Brooks

Rafiq claimed Jack Brooks, a two-time County Championship winner at Yorkshire, had started the disrespectful practice of calling India star Cheteshwar Pujara 'Steve' during an overseas stint at the club.

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David Lloyd issues apology for making an offensive comment about the Asian cricket community

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