Somerset cricketer Jack Brooks has said he has apologised to Cheteshwar Pujara for giving him the nickname “Steve” when he and the Indian batting star were colleagues at Yorkshire County Cricketer Club in 2015 and in 2018.

On the practice of giving nicknames, Brooks said in a statement: “With reference to my naming in Azeem Rafiq’s statement to MPs this week, the use of the name ‘Steve’ related to some people having difficult names to pronounce.

“When this has occurred in the past in a dressing room environment, it has been commonplace to give nicknames, regardless of creed or race.

“I admit to having used it in this context and now accept that it was disrespectful and wrong to do so. I have reached out and apologised to Cheteshwar for any offence that I have caused him or his family.

“At the time I didn’t recognise this as racist behaviour, but I can now see that it was not acceptable.”

Brooks has also said sorry to two Black players, Tymal Mills and Stewart Laudat, for using the “N” word in tweet exchanges with them in 2012.

Mills, 29, who was born in Dewsbury, West Yorkshire, and has represented England, is currently with Sussex. Laudat, 50, who was born in Oxford, has played minor counties cricket for Oxfordshire.

Brooks, 37, joined Yorkshire from Northamptonshire in late 2012 and stayed at the county until 2018. He moved to Somerset in 2019 and signed a new one-year contract in September this year taking him until the end of the 2022 season.

In 2012, Mills had tweeted “great work by the boys winning the series out in Sri Lanka! Top work lads”.

Brooks, who was tagged in the Twitter post along with Joe Root, Jos Buttler, Alex Hales and Nathan Buck, replied: “Cheers N***O! #brother.”

A month earlier, Brooks had responded to a congratulatory message from Laudat — “Great work Brooksy”, after he took three wickets in a Lions win over Bangladesh A — with a similar response: “Cheers n***o!”

In his apology, Brooks added: “I acknowledge that the language used in two tweets I made in 2012 was unacceptable and I deeply regret using it. I unreservedly apologise for any offence caused to anybody who may have seen these tweets.

“The two players to whom I sent the tweets are my friends and it was certainly not my intention to cause distress or offence to them or anyone who read them.

“It is my understanding that neither individual was offended at the time, but I accept that language is important and that a word I used may have caused offence to others.

“I condemn discrimination of any sort and I should never have used discriminatory language, no matter what the intention and context was. I wholeheartedly apologise for any offence caused.”

Brooks is now the subject of an inquiry by Somerset which announced: “Late on Sunday evening, Somerset County Cricket Club was made aware of allegations regarding one of our players, Jack Brooks. An investigation was immediately launched and is ongoing. It would be inappropriate for the club to comment further until this process has been concluded. A further statement will be made in due course.”

Somerset has also said that the county has a “zero-tolerance approach to any form of behaviour which is anything other than inclusive for all, regardless of gender, race, sexuality or any other characteristic”.

Hales’ denial

Former England batter Alex Hales has categorically denied any “racial connotation” in the naming of his dog, PTI reported, following Azeem Rafiq’s allegation that the name was used by former Yorkshire teammate Gary Ballance “to describe people of colour”.

Rafiq narrated his experiences of racism and discrimination at the Yorkshire club in detail as he addressed UK MPs in the Digital, Culture, Media and Sport Committee on Tuesday. He claimed that England international Ballance used the name “Kevin” as a “derogatory” term to refer to any player of colour. Rafiq further alleged that Hales had named his dog “Kevin” because it was black.

“Having heard the allegations made against me, I categorically and absolutely deny there was any racial connotation in the naming of my dog,” Hales said in a statement. “I entirely respect and have huge sympathy for both the stance Azeem Rafiq has taken and what he has had to endure. His evidence was harrowing.

“There is no place for racism or discrimination of any kind in cricket and I will gladly co-operate with any investigation the game’s authorities choose to hold,” Hales added.

Hales’ county club Nottinghamshire also issued a statement saying they have “commenced the appropriate internal process” following Rafiq’s testimony about the batter.