Roland Butcher, the first Black cricketer to play for England 45 years ago, believes racism remains deeply rooted in cricket and British society despite progress over the decades. Currently promoting his autobiography ‘Breaking Barriers: Barbados to England and Back’, the 71-year-old former batter shared his experiences as a black cricketer in the 1970s and 1980s, including his decision to withdraw from the controversial rebel tour of apartheid-era South Africa.Butcher, who divides his time between Barbados and the United Kingdom, acknowledges that addressing racism requires sustained effort and time.“I am pragmatic enough to understand that something doesn’t just finish just like that. The only thing that would finish anything in a hurry is a meteorite. But everything takes time and you chip away at it. Racism has been chipped away in England by a foreign person since the 1950s. We’re in 2025 and we’re still talking about it. So that tells you just how long the process is.”The former England player was disturbed by the racism allegations made by Azeem Rafiq against Yorkshire County Cricket Club in 2020, which led to significant changes in the club’s leadership.
“There has been incremental progress. I don’t think that you will just suddenly get a blank sheet of paper and it’ll all be a perfect drawing on it. That’s not going to happen. I think it’s something that has to be worked at continuously. And gradually over time, let’s reduce the instances. But it’s not going to just suddenly disappear. If something’s been going on for centuries, it doesn’t disappear within one year. And both players, ECB, everybody has to work at it. Trying to just level the playing field. That’s the important thing.”During his career at Middlesex from 1974 to 1990, Butcher experienced racism but maintains others faced greater challenges.“Well, for me personally, it wasn’t that bad because I am the sort of person that I didn’t let anything deter me from what I really wanted to achieve. But in saying that, back in the ’80s, there certainly was a lot of racism in England, not just in cricket, but I think in society. A lot of black players had difficult times, more difficult times than me around the circuit. But having made the breakthrough, I think it assisted a number of other black players who had been striving to get forward.“Butcher recalls specific instances of casual racism during his playing days at Middlesex, where he was part of a diverse team.
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Do you believe racism still exists in cricket today?
“One of the things that I remember me personally is, I was fortunate to play in a very good Middlesex team that was very successful. We had a lot of good players, but we also had, at any one time, we had five black players in the team. So there was myself, Wayne Daniel, Will Slack, Neil Williams and Norman Collins. So, you know, we were a pretty multi-racial team, but it didn’t stop opposition fans from remarking at times. I can remember one particular game against Kent where we were taking the field after tea and as we walked through the crowd, someone remarked, ‘look, they’ve got five of them’. I just thought, how perceptive, we’ve been playing all day and you only just realised that there’s five black players in Middlesex team.”A significant moment in Butcher’s career came in 1989 when he initially agreed to join the controversial rebel tour of South Africa but later withdrew.“I had made the decision to go for various reasons. And, then in reflection over a period of time, perhaps a little bit more education, I realised that going would be perhaps not the best thing in my interest or in the interest of black people in South Africa and outside of South Africa. There were legal challenges but then I made the decision to withdraw from the tour.”Despite ongoing challenges, Butcher sees positive changes in modern Britain’s approach to racial issues.“I think Britain is a much more tolerant country now than it used to be. It has to be if you think of the nationalities that live within England, Scotland and Wales right now. They have no choice but to be more tolerant because there are large percentages of foreign people living in this land. Back in the ’70s, ’80s, ’90s, it would have been much more difficult to call out racism because any black or Asian or any foreign player didn’t feel they could speak out because they were not represented in any way. Now they’ve got more of a voice because they’re now encouraged to speak out. If you have a problem within your club, you’re now encouraged to speak. And they’ve got people dedicated within the clubs to listen to you and take it forward. That didn’t happen before. So again, that is progress.”
