Whistleblower Azeem Rafiq says he had wine "poured down his throat" by a former Hampshire Cricket player while being "restrained".

Rafiq made the revelation during today Digital, Culture, Media and Sport select committee hearing, which offered him the chance to speak with the protection of parliamentary privilege.

Most graphically of all, Rafiq revealed that as an aspiring 15-year-old club cricketer he had been restrained while red wine was poured down his throat by a former Yorkshire and Hampshire player.

The player was unnamed during the hearing, but it was suggested the incident happened while he was on Yorkshire's books.

Rafiq, now 30, said: "My first instance of drinking, I actually got pinned down at my local cricket club, and red wine got poured down my throat.

"I was 15.

"The player played for Yorkshire; he played for Hampshire."

He added that he had to join in with the sport’s drinking culture "in order to fit in", something he has since regretted.

Hampshire County Cricket Club has been approached for comment.

During the hearing, Rafiq also laid bare the full extent of his harrowing experience of racism in cricket in front of MPs.

As well as going into disturbing details of his time at Headingley, the 30-year-old took his accusations close to the top of the game, suggesting racially derogatory use of the term ‘Kevin’ by former team-mate Gary Ballance was “an open secret in the England dressing room”. He further alleged that another former England batter, Alex Hales, had given a dog the name because it was black.

Rafiq’s voice cracked and he fought back tears on several occasions, but he spoke with clarity and resolve for almost an hour and 40 minutes, interrupted only by one brief adjournment when emotion got the better of him.

Rafiq concluded that racial discrimination, and his decision to take a stand against it, had cost him his career in a sport that he feels has ingrained problems above and beyond his own story.