We are lucky to have a firsthand voice on the matter,and it only beckons that we would urge folks to please not be dismissive, rather if we could scratch the surface, it might provide perspective.
1. With humility, Im interested to know, if the overall approach towards Asians/ you lets say, was with malice in mind or lets say a teenage belligerence
2. How would you honestly assess the chances of a talented player not making the cut due to race bias
3. Any incidents when you how handled a tough situation. Was your experience all bad, or there was some good things with your stint at the club.
I was actually going to write a second post directly after explaining exactly what you asked. Apologies if this is not coherent, it’s just my own thoughts over things that happened years ago.
Unlike these instances raised by Azeem, I never faced any blatant outward racism. I wish I had.
This might sound ridiculous but it’s exactly what the issue was. Had there been a direct comment, I have some belief I would have either stood up for myself, or notified someone.
Instead what transpired was an environment where I constantly felt like an outsider. Everyone constantly drinking beer (obviously not the kids) and eating specifically bacon sandwiches. Not that it bothers me what someone does but it was very clear that I was standing out like a store thumb and no one was making any effort to make a 14/15 year kid feel included. In fact the undertones were almost the opposite. By that I mean the general looks and mumbled hellos.
Within the sport itself, I was definitely given adverse treatment compared to others - in regards to selection usually. I was also always only given a few minutes of batting in the nets (something I was terrible at, I was a fast bowler as per the stereotype) and never really ever helped to improve. Only after I was 18 and playing with friends did I start to play basic defensive shots/ drives and realised how ridiculous it was that over 5 years of paying a club, they never taught me the skills of how to hold a bat properly.
To be clear - I was never talented enough to play even county level nor was it ever more than a passion/hobby for me alongside my studies. But I can certainly say that the environment demotivated me and caused me to be a considerably worse cricketer than I could have been. I stayed because my best friend (who was white, lovely guy but so oblivious that he wouldn’t even know what to do had he picked up on it) also played for them, it was close to home, I was set in the routine and it felt far more intimidating to start at a new club after all the discomfort than to just bear through what I had.
Looking back on it now - I wonder how much of it was due to malice and how much was due to unconscious bias. There could be a news story about a ‘Muslim’ grooming gang or a group of lads from Bradford acting like idiots and the coach/ a parent/ one of the players would come to training and associate the Asian player with that negativity.
I don’t think the people there were bad people at all. Many of the kids were my friends and the parents caring. I can pin point a number of people who were incredibly helpful. But the general environment was where the issue lay.
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