Sport

China opposes the “politicisation of sport” , said their foreign ministry spokesperson today, following the Women’s Tennis Association decision to pull out of all tournaments in the country.

Is this a watershed moment for English cricket? Or is there a deep-rooted racism in the gentleman’s game that’s too entrenched to eradicate? 

What should happen now following Azeem Rafiq’s testimony to MPs?

His testimony to MPs gave harrowing insight into the closed world of top-flight cricket. 

Discussing a shameful day for cricket were former English international cricketer Monty Panesar, secretary of a grassroots cricket club in Yorkshire Taj Butt, and journalist Mihir Bose.

Constant racist language, inhuman treatment and bosses who did nothing to stop it. The former Yorkshire player Azeem Rafiq has accused English cricket of being institutionally racist in highly charged testimony to MPs.

The new chairman of the Yorkshire County Cricket Club, Lord Patel, has offered an unreserved apology to Azeem Rafiq over the way his allegations of racism and bullying were handled, and said he should be praised for his courage in speaking out.

We were joined by Tracy Brabin, who’s the elected Mayor of West Yorkshire, and Mohammed Patel, a human rights lawyer who is a lifelong Yorkshire cricket fan.

Michael Holding played for the West Indies cricket team and is now a cricket commentator.

We caught up with Roger Hutton, the now former chairman of Yorkshire County Cricket Club, who announced his resignation this morning after he released a statement. 

The chairman was the first to go, and later on in the day two more members of Yorkshire County Cricket Club joined him in resigning. 

Yorkshire County Cricket Club have been suspended from hosting international and major matches following allegations of racism by former player Azeem Rafiq.

Tributes have flooded in for the man known as “Sir Roger” by fans. 

British tennis star Emma Raducanu has split from the coach who helped lead her to her US Open triumph, saying she needs a more experienced mentor to take her to the next level of tennis glory.

At Westminster, the former Labour Minister Keith Vaz has been found by an independent panel to have subjected a female parliamentary staff member to “sustained and unpleasant bullying”.