Ex-England pacer Tim Bresnan apologises for bullying Azeem Rafiq, but denies racism claims

Amid the Yorkshire racism row, former England fast bowler Tim Bresnan has dismissed the accusation made by Azeem Rafiq towards the pacer. Bresnan has said that Rafiq's comments are "absolutely not true". Even so, he has also apologised "unreservedly" to Rafiq if he might have had a part in contributing to the cricketer's experience of feeling bullied at Yorkshire. 

"I have been made aware of the bullying claims made against me and have listened to Azeem Rafiq's account of his time at Yorkshire CCC today with great distress, as I'm sure everyone will have done," Bresnan said in a statement on Twitter.

"For any part, I played in contributing to Azeem Rafiq's experience of feeling bullied at Yorkshire, I apologise unreservedly. Following the publication of Azeem's witness statement from the employment tribunal, which I saw for the first time this afternoon, I must though categorically deny his accusation that I 'frequently made racist comments'. This is absolutely not true," he added.

Yorkshire racism row

Earlier on Tuesday, Rafiq spoke in length about one-time Yorkshire captain Gary Ballance. Ballance has admitted using a "racial slur" towards Rafiq in a lengthy statement issued earlier this month. Moreover, he apologised, but stated it as a part of a 'long and deep friendship'. Similarly, Azeem Rafiq also revealed that former England opener Alex Hales has named his dog "Kevin" because it was a black one. He further went on to add that "Kevin" was a name used by the then Yorkshire skipper Gary Ballance all the time for people of select colour.

"Gary and Alex Hales got very close to each other playing for England but I understand Alex went on to name his dog Kevin because it was black. It is disgusting how much of a joke it became,"

Rafiq held his tears back when he told MPs (parliamentary select committee) the word 'P***' was "used constantly" across his two spells at Yorkshire and no one in leadership challenged it. Earlier, he claimed that Michael Vaughan in 2009 told him and two other Asian players that there are "too many of you lot, we need to do something about it". When asked to comment on Vaughan's remarks, Rafiq said that: 

"It's important on Michael that we don't make it all about Michael. It was a long time ago. He might not remember it because it doesn't mean anything to him." Vaughan, however, had denied the allegations. 

With ANI inputs