ECB place SUSPENSION on England stars taking part in media activities during the Ashes in Australia amid ongoing Yorkshire racism crisis and the Tim Paine sexting scandal
- The ECB have placed an indefinite suspension on stars speaking to the media
- English cricket is embroiled in a racism crisis amid claims made by Azeem Rafiq
- Australia is also in crisis after captain Tim Paine stood down amid a sexting row
The ECB have placed an indefinite suspension on the England team’s media activities in Australia while the race storm continues to swirl around the game.
The gagging coincides with the England dressing room being implicated as complicit with racism through Azeem Rafiq’s allegations earlier this week under parliamentary privilege that ‘Kevin’ was a slur that had been used within it to refer to black people.
Last Thursday, Rafiq described himself as ‘incredibly hurt’ after England captain Joe Root said he’d not witnessed any instances of racism during two decades as a player at Headingley.
The ECB have placed an indefinite suspension on England stars from speaking to the media
It comes amid a racism crisis after claims made by former Yorkshire star Azeem Rafiq
There are several connections to Rafiq in the 18-man squad: Root, Jonny Bairstow and Dawid Malan all play for crisis club Yorkshire while several other senior members have featured alongside the 30-year-old, some under his captaincy during their England Under 19 days.
The silence also avoids players being dragged into commenting on Tim Paine’s ‘sexting’ scandal which has left the Australian squad to deal with non-cricket issues of their own ahead of the five-match series.
The situation is expected to be reviewed next week in the build-up to the first Ashes Test in Brisbane on December 8.
The ECB also don’t want their players dragged into commenting on the Tim Paine sexting row