"As soon as I joined the team I was called bomber - Former Essex cricketer Zoheb Sharif comes out with a fresh set of allegations against the club
Former Essex cricketer Zoheb Sharif has shed details on the racial and Islamophobic abuse he suffered during his stint with the county side. He has represented Essex since the age of eight and went on to play in four first-class matches.
Now aged 38, Sharif feels that the two decades of abuse caused by the club affected his future as a cricketer. He revealed that since joining the team right after the infamous 9/11 attack in New York, the nickname 'Bomber' was put in place right away, only because of his religion.
"I made my debut a day after the September 11th attacks and as soon as I joined the team I was called 'bomber' as a nickname which stuck," Sharif told Sky News. "I was always referred to as a 'bomber'. This then developed into a 'curry muncher'."
Sharif also claimed that Islamic prayers were not entertained at the club. As a result, he had to perform his prayers in his car itself.
"I wasn't allowed to pray," he said. "Sometimes I would find a place to pray in the corner of the ground away from everyone. I remember a senior figure taking me to the side and saying: 'You can't do that in front of everyone. You've got to do that away from everyone'."
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The recent set of allegations has shed light on the disturbing functioning of county clubs in England. Earlier, Azeem Rafiq accused Yorkshire cricket and former national team skipper Michael Vaughan of their involvement in racial abuse. While Vaughan has gone on to vehemently deny the allegations against him, Rafiq will present his case in front of a select committee after all-rounder Adil Rashid also backed his statement.
"I was told, 'No matter what you do, you will never, ever play in the first team' " - Zoheb Sharif
Zoheb Sharif has also gone on to divulge that even senior members at the club were at fault. Sharif, who played as a batter, was told that he would never play for the first team, no matter how well he performs.
As a result, he feels that Essex cricket robbed him of a promising career in cricket.
"I was told, 'No matter what you do, you will never, ever play in the first team,' Sharif said. "But I was like, 'I'm doing so well, I was like highest run scorer in the whole country, why can't I even get a look in?'
"I remember sitting down towards the end of the season where I performed really well - I think the next best person was averaging in the 30s and I was in the 100s - and the only official reason I ever got was - 'You will never play in the first team,' " he added.
Earlier this month, the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) suspended Yorkshire from hosting international cricket for the way it approached and handled the investigation following Rafiq's revelations.