Former England cricketer Matthew Hoggard says that his wife became “suicidal” and his life was “ruined” in the aftermath of the Azeem Rafiq racism scandal.
Hoggard was implicated in the case after allegations made by Rafiq, and in 2023, he was found guilty of charges of using racist and/or discriminatory language and was fined £4,000 by an England and Wales Cricket Board commission.
And in an interview with The Telegraph, the 48-year-old said the incident “ruined me and my family for a year, maybe longer”.
“I got cancelled massively. I didn’t want to leave the house. I was a recluse,” said Hoggard, who retired from the game in 2013.
Speaking on the effect the situation had on his family, Hoggard said that his wife “was suicidal” at the time, adding that he “knew how the defibrillator worked in the village, and where it was, and I knew what pills she had”.
“It was horrible, absolutely horrible,” he added.
Hoggard, who has since moved onto different business ventures since retiring and now owns a cookery school, added that his own personal and business ventures had been affected, with “big brands” refusing to work with him.
But despite this, he said that the “thing that really irks” him is that Rafeeq managed to “change the narrative” on occasion.
“The conversation I had privately on a phone call with him is completely different to the things he was saying in the press,” said the 2005 Ashes winner.
He went on to criticise the ECB’sd handling of the case, adding that he “felt stitched up in a kangaroo court”.
Nevertheless, he remains staunch in his own defence, adding that he “was adamant that what happened in that changing room wasn’t bullying, it wasn’t victimisation, it wasn’t racism”.
