Hales denies ‘any racial connotation’ his dog’s name after Rafiq accusation

Rafiq said that Yorkshire and England batsman Ballance used ‘Kevin’ as a derogatory term for any people of colour, and after becoming friends with Hales, the Nottinghamshire batsman gave his black dog the name.

‘Kevin was something Gary used to describe anyone of colour in a very derogatory manner. It was an open secret in the England dressing room,’ Rafiq explained. ‘Anyone who came across Gary would know that was a phrase he would use to describe people of colour.

‘Gary and Alex Hales got really close to each other when they played for England together. I wasn’t present in that dressing room, but what I understand is that Alex went on to name his dog Kevin because it was black. It’s disgusting how much of a joke it was.’

Hales has moved to deny the accusation, writing in a statement: ‘Having heard the allegations made against me, I categorically and absolutely deny there was any racial connotation in the naming of my dog.

‘I entirely respect and have huge sympathy for both the stance Azeem Rafiq has taken and what he has had to endure. His evidence was harrowing.

‘There is no place for racism or discrimination of any kind in cricket and I will gladly co-operate with any investigation the game’s authorities choose to hold.

‘Neither I nor my representatives will be making any further comment on the matter.’

Rafiq also implicated former England coach and Sky Sports commentator David Lloyd in the racism scandal, saying he had heard questionable comments from Lloyd.

‘It’s clear the problem is there,’ he said. ‘Everyone’s known it for a very long time. I think it’s been an open secret. As I’ve seen over the last 15 months, if you speak out your life is going to be made hell – and there’s no doubt my life [has been made hell].

‘I sat in front of national TV and talked about the dark places this whole episode has got me into and what’s happened since then? Denial, briefings, cover-ups, smearing.

‘High-profile media people messaging other members of the media who supported me saying stuff like, “The club houses are the life blood of a club and Asian players don’t go in there”, “Getting subs out of Asian players is like getting blood out of stone”.

‘And then personally this guy doesn’t even know me, has never spent any time with me, is talking about my personal drinking, going out and socialising.

‘That was David Lloyd, he’s been an England coach, commentator, and I found it disturbing because Sky are supposedly doing this amazing work on bringing racism to the front and within a week of me speaking out that’s what I got sent to me. And I thought, “Gosh, there’s some closet racists and we need to do something about it”.’

Lloyd has since apologised for his actions, with a statement which read: ‘In October 2020, I had a private message exchange with a third party involved in cricket, about a number of topics.

‘In these messages, I referred to allegations about Azeem Rafiq which I had heard from within the game.

‘I also made some comments about the Asian cricket community.

‘I deeply regret my actions, and I apologise most sincerely to Azeem and to the Asian cricket community for doing this, and for any offence caused.

‘I am strongly committed to making cricket a more inclusive sport.

‘It is very obvious now that more work needs to be done and I will do everything I can to remove discrimination from the sport I love, and the sport that has been my life for over 50 years.’

MORE : Azeem Rafiq implicates David Lloyd and Alex Hales in Yorkshire racism scandal and criticises Joe Root

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