oldjamfan1

I’m certainly not suggesting he was responsible and I think I have made it very clear what I think of the behaviour towards him. But for some unfathomable reason a huge swathe of people seem reluctant to call him out for the hypocrite and - yes - racist that he is. It’s HIS credibility, not that of his allegations, that I am referring to. The credibility of anyone who is racist is surely in question. As someone above says there is much more to his particular story than meets the eye and for the umpteenth time and for additional clarity I agree that the systemic and institutional racism in cricket needs to be sorted out. And @gav - of course I’m not directly comparing what he did to what he received but you clearly are - the very definition of whataboutery wouldn’t you say?

Whataboutery? Come off it Gav his credibility is blown apart. He’s one of those that can give it out but can’t take it. That much is clear. Of course your second paragraph is 100% on the money.

You do know that the anti Semitic tweet isn’t the only thing that has surfaced from him don’t you? There was other stuff relating to blacks/Africans. https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.news18.com/cricketnext/amp/news/azeem-rafiqs-old-instagram-post-90-of-our-relatives-wouldve-been-african-emerges-amidst-yorkshire-racism-scandal-4107242.html He’s a wrong ‘un.

It wasn’t a dig at anyone in particular but I’ve seen countless people do it today which I find a bit odd to be honest.

The Jam - Away From the Numbers Weller was 18 when this was released!

Worth going just to see The Coral. One of the best albums I’ve heard this year that.

Gav you surely have to agree that his credibility is absolutely flattened by this. Part of his main complaint is that racist language and behaviour was that common some people couldn’t properly recall it. It turns out that he was very much an active part of that culture, and I very much doubt that the tweets that have been unearthed are the only occasions he’s acted like this - it’s either in you or it isn’t. Another disturbing thing I’ve seen a lot of today (including on this very forum) is that people criticising Azeem for his anti semitism are immediately being asked whether they condone what happened to him, the insinuation being that they themselves are racist. That sort of reaction is not helpful and the lad is quite rightly being called out for the racist and hypocrite that he clearly is. Robinson got pilloried for a similar offence and it’s only right that Azeem is too. Gary Ballance is very likely to stick the boot in on him any time soon as well. They are all as bad as each other.

He is, but it’s still not great for them for it to happen so close to the Ashes starting. Be some interesting sledging going on now I would imagine……

I work with her cousin. It’s easy to forget just what a massive star she was back in the 70s and 80s. The Magic Numbers - Mornings Eleven

The Aussie captain has resigned now!

I’m pretty sure he didn’t mean it literally.

No argument there den

Tells you everything you need to know about them then Jim

I’ll see if I can find it mate. He called him a wanker in it for sure. Edit: I can’t find the actual tweet but this is the Guardian reporting of it.

He only apologised when confronted with his tweets. If he didn’t remember them may I respectfully suggest (to him) that he bloody well ought to have done, given the circumstances. By the way Ballance should be dragged to the Commons and asked some very specific questions, as should Vaughn and Hales. Edit: His vicious tweet about John Abrahams might also explain why Bumble wasn’t too enamoured with the lad.

I suspect that were it a Tory MP that had lambasted people for various things and then shown to have behaved equally poorly you might not be as charitable. In fact the word ‘hypocrite’ might have been included in your response. And just to reiterate I’m not condoning anything that happened to the lad.

Nobody is saying it does, but he’s dragged a few names into the mix that on the face of it seem less guilty of racism than he is. He must have known about these historic Tweets in much the same way as he thinks Joe Root must have heard racist language: it also says something about the climate that existed back then, which it now appears he was a part of. Do you not think his credibility has been damaged a bit here?

What do they say about “let those without sin cast the first stone”?…… https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/cricket/59338118

Marc Almond - The Days of Pearly Spencer

Steve Clarke has always been a highly respected coach. Ask Gullitt, Zola, Mourinho, Kenny etc. Also, what he did at Killie was miraculous.

True, but he’s not really pointing the finger at Root, he’s more suggesting that he must have been aware of some of the language being used at the time but at the risk of repeating myself only Joe Root himself can answer that. Azeem didn’t - as far as I know - mention Joe Root at all in any previous statement or evidence (unlike the other names on the list), and was only responding to the statement that Root himself made. The fact that he describes Root as a “good man” also puts him above the other names who have been directly accused of racism. I’m certainly not suggesting there isn’t an awful problem here and the lad has clearly suffered, but it’s a bit of a leap to drag the current England captain and superstar into this and lump him in with all the players and ex players that have been cited as acting in a racist manner just because he plays very occasionally for Yorkshire and may or may not have heard things.

I think that joke would have worked better 12 months ago mate but they aren’t doing too badly at the minute and of course held us to a 0-0 not that long ago 😂

I believe a lot of this sort of language went on at Blackburn Council in the 80s Gav, including by many former colleagues (and friends) of mine. But I can 100% guarantee that I never heard one person use the ‘p’ word (which was much more prevalent back then as well). Sometimes when people know they shouldn’t talk or act in a certain way, they are careful about who they include in that sort of thing. I don’t think it’s all that naive to suggest that players were a bit more circumspect in the company of one of the superstars of the game, which Joe Root has been almost from the beginning of his career.

Otis Redding - Fa-Fa-Fa-Fa-Fa (Sad Song) I’ll get my coat……

I didn’t realise that. Nothing on Root from him then?