Former Yorkshire player Azeem Rafiq broke down in tears on Tuesday as he told a British parliamentary committee of “inhuman” treatment at the cricket club and described the sport in England as riddled with racism.

In more than an hour of questioning by members of parliament, Rafiq, 30, an offspin bowler and former captain of the England Under-19s of Pakistani descent, catalogued a damning culture of widespread racism at Yorkshire.

He and other players with Asian backgrounds were subjected to comments such as “You lot sit over there” and routinely referred to as “Paki”, Rafiq said. “I felt isolated, humiliated at times,” he added in emotional testimony to the parliamentary Digital, Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) panel.

The scandal has shaken English sport, cost Yorkshire the right to host England internationals, seen the club’s top brass quit, and embroiled former England captain Michael Vaughan and present England skipper Joe Root.

Rafiq, who played for Yorkshire from 2008-14 and again from 2016-18, recounted having red wine poured down his throat as a 15-year-old and spoke of Asian players being blamed for mistakes while they were fasting.

He spoke of being “ripped to shreds” by former coach Martin Moxon on his first day back after the death of his child.

He also said the racism he endured at Yorkshire was “without a shadow of doubt” replicated across the country and said the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) were more concerned with box-ticking exercises than increasing the number of South Asian players becoming professionals.

Former Yorkshire chairman Roger Hutton Hutton resigned following criticism of Yorkshire’s handling of an investigation into the claims first made by Rafiq in 2020.

‘Not banter’

Rafiq described the atmosphere in the dressing room under former captain Gary Ballance as “toxic”.

“Andrew Gale came in as coach, Gary Ballance as captain, and the temperature changed. I felt isolated,” he said.

Ballance, who played 23 Tests for England, had described Rafiq as his “best mate in cricket” but admitted he used a racial slur and regretted his actions.

“Paki is not banter, racism is not banter,” Rafiq added.

Rafiq also said he had been “pinned down” at the age of 15 and had red wine “poured down” his throat while no compassion was shown after the stillbirth of his son.

Asked about the scale of the problem in English professional cricket, Rafiq said: “It’s scary.”