Millions have enjoyed the T20 World Cup which took place in the UAE. The passion from the subcontinent fans, when it comes to Cricket, is unrivalled the world over.

This makes the news coming out of Yorkshire CC all the more bitter and poisonous.

Over a year ago, former English off-spin bowler, Azeem Rafiq, made allegations of institutional racism against Yorkshire CC.

Upon the recommendation of an independent arbitrator, Yorkshire CC set up an independent (allegedly) commission which found that whilst evidence of racially aggravated behaviour existed, this was mere banter between team mates and not racist bullying or conduct which fell foul of the Equality Act 2010.

The racially aggravated behaviour included use of the term ‘P**I’ by Rafiq’s former teammates, including England Test Cricketer Gary Ballance.

The report determined that this behaviour was in good spirit and just jovial fun between friends. The same report had the temerity to suggest that Rafiq had used terms like Zimmo (short for Zimbabwean) during his time at the club and was thus guilty of using racist terms himself. For context, Zimmo is used as a term in the same context as Aussie for Australians, carrying no racist connotations culturally.

The 'P' word has been, historically, used in a manner to offend and convey racist sentiment, used ignorantly for all peoples of the subcontinent (whether of Pakistani origin or not!)

So in essence it certifies that calling someone a P**I isn’t offensive if you use it with your friends and act contrite when the news becomes public. Yorkshire CC have really dropped the ball on this one. Ignoring racism is just as bad as racist behaviour itself. Or it ought to be.

The term P**I is a racist offensive term and Yorkshire CC have brushed it under the carpet as “friendly banter.” I have always seen banter as something which is funny to both parties, and the individual to whom the joke is targeted is comfortable with the joke. If it is not this, then it'S NOT banter but ABUSE.

If anyone feels uncomfortable with the joke, then the joke should not be used. The fact that the other 17 players would laugh at the ‘joke’ rather than stepping in, speaks volumes.

How can we expect more South Asians to come up the sporting ranks when institutional racism exists? Yorkshire CC have an uneasy past in this regard, having only recently brought Asian players into the mix, despite having a significant minority of South Asians within the county. It reminds me of Norman Tebbit‘s infamous ‘Cricket Test’, coined in 1991.

This crude terminology sought to test the loyalty of South Asian and Caribbean communities by assessing whether these communities supported the English Cricket Team or the teams of their ancestral lands.

Why would you feel so shocked when you see young boys and girls, English born to immigrant parents, wear jerseys other than England’s. Why would that disenfranchisement and dissociation not exist within their respective minds when the system is set up to alienate and ‘otherise’ them?

This isn’t a unique complaint unfortunately. Andy Murray, Amir Khan, Raheem Sterling and many other non-English athletes have complained of the system where you are British in success and revert to your ethnic roots, becoming Scottish, p**i, Jamaican etc in your lows.

There is little point in allowing the house to burn down and having the firefighters apologise post-fact. Let us put out this fire at root, through education and punishment, where necessary. The ECB stepped in too late once it was common knowledge that english cricket was institutionally racist.