Somerset pacer Jack Brooks has reached out to his former Yorkshire teammate Cheteshwar Pujara and has apologized to him for using racist language in his old tweets.
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Earlier in the week, Brook’s name was taken in Azeem Rafiq’s testimony in front of the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport select committee. Azeem Rafiq had said that Brooks had started the practice of referring to Pujara as “Steve”.
“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 a statement issued by ESPNcricinfo.
“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,” the pacer added.
Way back in 2012, Brooks had called Pujara ‘Steve’ when the two were in Yorkshire. Brooks says that he did not recognize it as a racist behaviour back then but understands his mistake now.
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“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. 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,” the 37-year-old said.
Somerset also issued a statement on Sunday saying that they are looking into the matter.
“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,” the club said.
Apart from this incident, Brooks is also under the scanner for making historical racist tweets. Brooks has deleted his twitter account but his tweets are in people’s knowledge.
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