Malayalee cricketers belonging to various teams of the UK Malayalee cricket league have been in the receiving end of racially motivated violence from local miscreants at Barkingside. Things however took a serious turn during a recent match between the Kerala cricket club and East Ham cricket club both members of the UKMCL when a Malayaleee player objected to the attack of a Pakistani boy at the grounds. Some miscreants were savagely attacking two young Pakistani boys walking along with their parents near the boundary line of the stadium close to where the Malayalee players were resting in the pavilion and cheering their teams. One of the players intervened to save the boys who were pushed to the ground and being stamped and beaten mercilessly while the family was subjected to a lot of racist abuses. At this the attackers left the family and turned their wrath on the players and started pushing, shoving and hurling strong racially vituperative language at them. They left the place only to return with more people including older folks to repeat the abusing and physical intimidation which resulted in an exchange of blows.

The miscreants cleverly threw themselves on the ground to give a picture to the police who arrived on the scene that they were the victims of violence by the players which led to the arrest of some players. Sreejith Sreedharan UK Malayalee cricket league secretary said that the league will throw its weight fully behind the players who were being unnecessarily framed. He said that there have been several such incidents in the past when local youth have teased, harassed and abused by local miscreants, these incidents did not come to light thanks to the restraint and control exercised by the Malayalee players. He added that although these incidents were reported to the Barkingside police, no worthwhile action has been taken against the miscreants and the situation had not changed.

The match which was disrupted when the untoward incidents broke out was the final for the UKMCL trophy, the match may not be replayed and the trophy is likely to be shared by the contestants the EMCC and the KCC. The larger issue is however the safety of the Malayalee players at Barkingside, which will remain a question until the Police take some stern action on the culprits and bring to book.