Nottinghamshire batter Alex Hales and former Warwickshire and Leicestershire all-rounder Ateeq Javid were both charged over the posts in August; both had previously apologised for the posts and received reprimands from the CDC
Saturday 19 November 2022 06:11, UK
Alex Hales and Ateeq Javid have both received reprimands from the Cricket Discipline Commission over historical social media posts.
Nottinghamshire batter Hales and former Warwickshire and Leicestershire all-rounder Javid were both charged in August and subsequently admitted breaching ECB Directive 3.3.
The directive states: "No such person may conduct himself in a manner or do any act or omission which may be prejudicial to the interests of cricket or which may bring the game of cricket or any Cricketer or group of Cricketers into disrepute."
Both players had previously apologised for the posts and in each case, CDC Adjudicator Chris Tickle deemed it: "Inappropriate and unnecessary to require a further apology or to impose a fine."
Hales was charged after a photo was published showing him in blackface at a fancy-dress party. The image, published by The Sun newspaper, was apparently taken at a New Year's Eve party in 2009, when Hales would have been 20 years old.
Hales, now 32, told The Sun the outfit was in tribute to Tupac Shakur, the US rapper, who the England T20 international said he "admired from childhood".
"In 2009, I attended a New Year's Eve musical tribute fancy dress party," Hales said. "I dressed in tribute to my musical hero, Tupac Shakur, someone who I've admired from childhood and, at the time, did not realise the offensive nature of this.
"I echo my statement from earlier in the week and stress how much I deplore racism and discrimination in all its forms."
Hales also released a video statement via Instagram further expressing his regret and apologising for the "offence that this has no doubt caused which was incredibly reckless and foolish".
A further charge against Hales of breaching Directive 3.4 by failing to comply with the ECB's Anti-Discrimination Code was withdrawn by the governing body.
Javid was charged over an exchange of messages on Facebook in 2011 with Azeem Rafiq, who was also reprimanded by the CDC last month over the same incident, which were deemed to be antisemitic in nature.
The Times newspaper included a screen capture of the message exchange between Rafiq and Javid, and reported that its "sources believe they are discussing another Asian cricketer, at the time playing for Derbyshire, whom they seem to accuse of being reluctant to spend money on a meal out".
