LONDON - Anyone who saw Azeem Rafiq representing Yorkshire a decade or so ago “might well have presumed he had a great future in the game”, writes George Dobell in The Cricketer. But sadly, “it wasn’t to be”.

Now, at 30, “when he should probably be somewhere near his peak as a cricketer”, Rafiq “runs a fish and chip shop”. Perhaps, continues Dobell, he “lost his way as a player” precisely because he suffered racist abuse. Either way, “it seems his real legacy is being played out before us at present”.

Early evidence suggests that Rafiq’s story “is the tip of a very large, very ugly iceberg”, says Dobell. “It is becoming increasingly clear, from dozens of calls from other former players, that non-white players have largely suffered in silence for years.”

We can’t forget, concludes Dobell, the toll this process has taken on Rafiq. “He is exhausted. He has felt excluded.

He is grieving both a lost child and a lost career.” But his intervention “really could prove to be a turning point for our game”. If we don’t make cricket more inclusive as a result, “we will have missed a golden opportunity”, says Dobell. “All of us who love cricket – even those who just value inclusivity – may well look back on this episode and conclude we have much to thank him for.”