|| CF Correspondent ||

Former England all-rounder  Philip DeFreitas said on Sunday that he received multiple death threat when he played for Barmy Army.

The 54-year-old DeFreitas, who took 140 and 115 wickets in 44 Tests and 103 ODIs respectively for England, said the multiple death threats that he received affected his international career as he couldn't focus on cricket as he opened up on the raging issue of racism in sport.

"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 played for England from 1986 to 1997 also revealed that he received no support  as he had to fend on himself 

‘’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 added

DeFreitas, who made his Test debut in the 1986/87 Ashes at the age of 20 alongside two of his heroes -- Ian Botham and Allan Lamb, said he "always felt he had to be twice as good as a white person"

"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."