Former Yorkshire cricketer reprimanded over racist tweets
Jack Brooks will receive extensive training on Equality, Diversity and Inclusivity
Former Yorkshire cricketer Jack Brooks has been reprimanded over past social media posts that included racist language.
His current club, Somerset County, began an investigation earlier this week after it was made aware of the allegations.
Brooks will also be required to participate in extensive training on Equality, Diversity and Inclusivity.
In addition to the social media posts, claims that Jack was involved in the adoption of the nickname "Steve" for an overseas player at Yorkshire were also investigated.
No additional information or allegations were uncovered by the Select Committee on Tuesday (17th November) and Jack Brooks has confirmed that he wasn't invited to participate in the review conducted by Yorkshire CCC.
Jack Brooks 'deeply regrets' past tweets
In a statement issued today (18th November) Jack Brooks said:
"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.
"The two players to whom I sent the tweets are my friends and it was certainly not my intention to cause distress or offence to them or anyone who read them. It is my understanding that neither individual was offended at the time, but I accept that language is important and that a word I used may have caused offence to others.
"I condemn discrimination of any sort and I should never have used discriminatory language, no matter what the intention and context was. I wholeheartedly apologise for any offence caused."
Somerset Cricket condemns the use of racist language
In another statement the Club said:
"Somerset CCC condemns the use of language which has any racist connotations. Jack agrees with this sentiment and is embarrassed and devastated that his comments offended people and he has acknowledged that, whilst they were made nearly a decade ago when he was less mature, the content of the posts was wrong and not in accordance with his personal values.
"Jack has engaged honestly and openly throughout the investigation and unreservedly apologies for his past errors."
The fact that there is no evidence of repeated documented behaviour of this kind by Jack Brooks was also taken into account.
Throughout the investigation, the Club also approached the recipients of the social media posts to get their feedback on the situation.
'No place for racism at Somerset Cricket'
Another part of the Club's statement read:
"There is no place for racism at Somerset Cricket or across the game as a whole. The Club encourages anyone with information on incidents that may have occurred in the past to report them to the Club to ensure that lessons are learned. Any information received will be kept confidential and investigated. We are listening."
Government warning to ECB
Meanwhile, sports minister Nigel Huddleston says cricket must get its house in order over racism, and raised the possibility of independent regulation if it did not.
Huddleston said the issue has been "kicked into the long grass for years".
Huddleston faced the same MPs on the Digital, Culture, Media and Sport committee who had heard about former Yorkshire player Azeem Rafiq's harrowing experiences on Tuesday, and said action had to be taken quickly.
"What we all want is for cricket to get its house in order and get its act together and sort this problem out," he said.