‘I had police looking after my house’: Former England bowler Phil DeFreitas narrates his fight with racism

DeFreitas, who went on to play 44 Tests and 104 ODIs for England between 1986 and 1997, admitted he received death threats.

Former England fast bowler Phil DeFreitas has revealed his encounter with racism saying the matter had escalated to such an extent that he even received death threats during his playing days. DeFreitas, who went on to play 44 Tests and 104 ODIs for England between 1986 and 1997, explained the extent of such threats, as part of racism, and how it effected in his career.

A portrait shot of Phil DeFreitas. (Getty Images)

“I received hate letters from the National Front - it’s not only once, I received that two or three times, saying ‘If you play for England, we will shoot you’,” DeFreitas said in a Sky Cricket Podcast.

“I had police looking after my house. I had a sponsored car with my name on it and I had to remove that. So can you imagine me driving down to London? I’m in a hotel two days before a Test match at Lord’s and I’m thinking ‘do I play or don’t I? Am I going to have a sniper? How can I focus on playing cricket for England with all that but with my determination, I would not allow those people to beat me ever.”

DeFreitas, the only player in the history of the County Championship to take a five-wicket haul against each of the 18 first-class teams, “always felt he had to be twice as good as a white person”. DeFreitas explained how the incidents made him feel aloof and distant from his teammates and the sport as a whole, and eventually played a hand in cutting short his career.

“I had no help, I had no support; I had to deal with that all on my own, it hurts quite a lot. I remember going home to my Mum and saying ‘I don’t feel like I belong there’. But I’m proud of what I achieved,” he said.

“There was that feeling where you felt you were just on your own all the time. People used to say ‘why don’t you get involved’, ‘why don’t you be more with the team’. You felt lonely, you felt all on your own. It was really tough. To have Gladstone Small and Chris Lewis playing for England was fantastic - it made you feel a bit better, but never secure. I never felt welcome; I always felt like every game was my last game. I was desperate to play for England and that kept me going.”

However, DeFreitas is glad knowing that times have changed and players all around the world are not only addressing racism, but even standing up to it. The death of African-American George Floyd at the hands of a white police officer in the United States has triggered global outrage against racism in society, following which several cricketers have spoken about their battle with racism.

“I wish I was able to come out and stand up for what I believed when I played, and the reasons why I didn’t was because I was always afraid that I’d never play for England again or that I’d be seen as a trouble-maker,” he said.

“The guys now have a great opportunity to stand up, be counted, and send the message out because this is going on and people are supporting them. I never felt I had that support. It was a scary place back then.”