Cricket: Player suspended after Twitter rant

England Under-19 captain and Yorkshire all-rounder Azeem Rafiq. Photo / Getty Images

English county side Yorkshire have suspended one of their talented young bowlers following a tirade of abuse on Twitter about his removal from a youth test match.

All-rounder Azeem Rafiq is also facing an England and Wales Cricket Board disciplinary inquiry following his withdrawal from an Under-19 Test against Sri Lanka in Scarborough, for disciplinary reasons.

Rafiq, the England U19s captain, was dropped after the first Test at Northampton as punishment for allegedly staying out into the early hours of the morning during the game.

That brought an expletive-laden tirade on Twitter in which he called the man who made the decision - John Abrahams, the ECB's elite player development manager - a "useless w***er".

- NZHERALD STAFF