'The spirit of cricket will die', Stephen Fry warns amid damning Azeem Rafiq allegations

Hearing that former cricketer Azeem Rafiq does not want his son to play the sport made Stephen Fry's "heart [fall] to his boots", the actor and comedian has said.

At a lecture held at Lord's cricket ground, which is known as 'the home of cricket', Fry touched on the heart-rending allegations of racism made by Rafiq to MPs earlier on Tuesday.

Rafiq said years of enduring discrimination at Yorkshire Cricket Club meant he now doesn't want his son to go "anywhere near" the game.

Cricket-lover Fry told an audience at Lord's: "When he said today that he didn’t want his son to go anywhere near cricket my heart fell to my boots.

"But actually that simple statement crystallises everything: it gives us a clear human image that says it all."

Fry described Rafiq's statement as a "rallying cry", adding: "Unless all our nation's sons and daughters with the talent and desire to have a life in cricket are confident that cricket will want to have a life with them, the spirit of cricket, its very flame, will flicker and go out".

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