English cricketer Jack Brooks apologises to Cheteshwar Pujara for using racist slur ‘Steve’
He
also
issued
an
apology
for
using
racist
language
in
his
tweets
which
date
back
to
2012.
“I
acknowledge
that
the
language
used
in
two
tweets
I
made
in
2012
was
unacceptable
and
I
deeply
regret
using
it.
I
unreservedly
apologise
for
any
offence
caused
to
anybody
who
may
have
seen
these
tweets,”
Brooks
said
in
his
statement,
as
reported
by
ESPNcricinfo.
Earlier
in
the
week,
Brooks’ name
had
featured
in
Azeem
Rafiq’s
testimony
in
front
of
the
Department
for
Digital,
Culture,
Media
and
Sport
select
committee.
Rafiq
had
said
that
Brooks
had
started
the
practice
of
referring
to
Pujara
as
“Steve”.
“With
reference
to
my
naming
in
Azeem
Rafiq’s
statement
to
MPs
this
week,
the
use
of
the
name
‘Steve’
related
to
some
people
having
difficult
names
to
pronounce.
“When
this
has
occurred
in
the
past
in
a
dressing
room
environment,
it
has
been
commonplace
to
give
nicknames,
regardless
of
creed
or
race.
“I
admit
to
having
used
it
in
this
context
and
now
accept
that
it
was
disrespectful
and
wrong
to
do
so,” said
Brooks.
“I
have
reached
out
and
apologised
to
Cheteshwar
for
any
offence
that
I
have
caused
him
or
his
family.
At
the
time
I
didn’t
recognise
this
as
racist
behaviour,
but
I
can
now
see
that
it
was
not
acceptable,” he
added.
Somerset
has
also
released
a
statement
saying
that
they
are
looking
into
the
issue.
“Late
on
Sunday
evening,
Somerset
County
Cricket
Club
was
made
aware
of
allegations
regarding
one
of
our
players,
Jack
Brooks,
which
occurred
while
he
was
employed
by
Yorkshire
CCC.
“An
investigation
was
immediately
launched
and
is
ongoing.
It
would
be
inappropriate
for
the
club
to
comment
further
until
this
process
has
been
concluded.
A
further
statement
will
be
made
in
due
course,”
said
the
club.
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