ENGLAND’S Under-19 cricket captain has launched an incredible foul-mouthed attack on his coach on Twitter.
Azeem Rafiq called John Abrahams a “useless ****” after he was dropped from the side for what the ECB called “improper conduct”. It is thought the off-spinner was left out of the side for the second Test against Sri Lanka at Scarborough and his shocking rant casts serious doubt over his future as an international cricketer.
Rafiq wrote on his Twitter page: “What a f***ing farsee … John Abrahams is a useless ****… ECB prove it again what incompetent people are working for them!!”
He added a second post, reiterating: “John Abrahams is a useless w****r.”
The ECB is now considering Rafiq’s future place in the Under-19s.
It is not the first time an England player has been caught out on Twitter.
Rafiq’s Yorkshire team-mate Tim Bresnan, called up yesterday to the squad to face Pakistan at Trent Bridge, had to apologise after becoming embroiled in an expletive-filled row with another user on the micro-blogging site.
England captain Andrew Strauss said: “What I would say is that if you haven’t led by example and have let yourself down you’ve got to take it on the chin and learn from it.”
“For a start, players should be aware that what they write on Twitter is going to be seen by people they might not want it to be seen by. We’ve had a number of occasions of that happening, so I’d say to be very careful on that.
“The other thing I’d say is that there is a right way to react to things and there is a wrong way and venting your frustration is not the right way to do it especially if you have been in the wrong. You need to take it on the chin and learn from it otherwise there are plenty of other people who can do it better than you.”
The Pakistan-born Rafiq was involved in controversy in 2008, when Yorkshire were thrown out of the Twenty20 Cup after failing to register him, although the player was blameless on that occasion. (Eurosport)