Former England cricketer Ebony Rainford-Brent says cricket "owes a lot" to Azeem Rafiq for having the courage to "rip the bandage off" racism in the sport.
Rafiq first made claims of historical racism at Yorkshire in August 2020, later calling English cricket "institutionally racist".
An independent investigation commissioned by Yorkshire upheld seven of Rafiq's 43 claims in September 2021.
Last year a hearing found Rafiq's allegations against five former players were proven, and that the group had brought the game into disrepute through their use of racist and/or discriminatory language.
Rainford-Brent, 40, was the first black woman to play for England and spoke on BBC Radio 4's Desert Island Discs about the impact of Rafiq standing up to racism.
"I was so proud of him [Rafiq] because I knew the impact was not going to be pretty, but also I knew what he was doing was for the bigger picture," she said.
"I think we owe him, even though it's been a tough journey, we owe him a lot. I owe him a lot. I remember saying to him he'd done what I could never have done, which is to really rip the bandage off."
A report published by the Independent Commission for Equity in Cricket (ICEC) in June 2023 found that discrimination in cricket in England and Wales was "widespread".
The England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) said in September 2023 it wanted "to change the game" in its response to a report detailing racism, sexism, classism and elitism in the sport.
Rainford-Brent, who retired from playing in 2012, is now a broadcaster and holds several administrative roles within the game, including a position as an ECB board non-executive director.
She said cricket has been "forced to be accountable" over racism but is "still a long way away" from "solving these problems".
"I don't want to pretend we are there, and I feel like we need to keep our foot on the gas for 20 years before we even see that deep-rooted cultural change," she added.
"Now we have some good plans in place I think the reality is things take time but we are seeing some growth so I am hopeful."
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