mad
Member
Exactly which is why it has been so necessary for that club to completely remove what had gone on before. It had previously discriminated and ought not do so going forwards is a point well worth restating.
Several of the coaches I imagine will re-apply for roles in due course. Those with less baggage will have more of a chance within the new set up. Yorkshire CCC have a particularly difficult job now of attracting talent from a wide demograohic within and beyond their county boundaries to want to play for, work with and watch them, Many have clearly previously been put off from working at for the club at Headingley. Hopefully that mindset is ending quickly now. About time too.
If I were Warks I'd ignore their first team and look at trying to pick off some of Tykes better young players who might end up getting released as a result of all this
If the incumbents were re-selected it certainly wouldn't be down to merit so it seems a moot point.
I guess they will get lots of help from the ECB/PCA with this as they may well be restarting as an academy side in CC Div 2 which seems almost certain. Plus there will probably be an exodus of their more senior players to other counties (mainly Surrey Hants or Notts) or to a year traipsing around the T20/T10/T1 circus
According to the Telegraph a decision will be made as to whether Yorkshire are relegated to Division Two in exchange for getting their international matches back for 2022 as loss of the latter would be more catastrophic for the club.
Also 3 rounds of county championship matches in July before that break for the Hundred & RL Cup which is pushed back to the end of July into August. Bham Phoenix & Bears RL matches will be away for the first week + of that as the Commonwealth Games will be in progress
This is commendable initial work from the club and both Bressy now and Recordo over the last 8 years. We're perhaps fortunate that in this instance Warks have a lad who was prepared to speak up at the time (2013) as well as work with the club now.
I hope other current cricket players will now feel confident about speaking like this as it'll help point towards a viable future for the sport. He broke through at Warwicks to enjoy a short professional career but how many players as talented (or more) were held back by the club having this reputation in the area and either moved away or gave up the game?
His experiences coming through age group and club cricket in the area is informative if that has been and is still today the view of young cricket players in the Birmingham area - that it represents a class issue where you need to go to the right private schools in the right leafy areas of the West Midlands or have the right parental connections to get much of a look in and where race intersects quite abruptly - for the good of the game these barriers need tearing down I would hope there is an enormous appetite to do that at Warwicks when there clearly was at least some resistance to acknowledge these issues previously and perhaps even efforts to entrench them within Yorkshire.
Intellingent discussion re: leadership from Sport England's Chris Grant OBE who sent an open letter to the counties/ECB last week
https://chrisg14a.wordpress.com/2021/11/18/open-letter-to-leaders-of-english-cricket/
Well worth listening to this anyone involved at all levels within the game;
https://audioboom.com/posts/7985661-where-sport-goes-next-after-the-azeem-rafiq-revelations
With this particular incident at least they have a template for dealing with it. The same way they dealt with the Ollie Robinson revelations of historic social media earlier this year. Some thought it too lenient, others too harsh - I thought it was one thing the ECB seemed to get about right.
Obvs these players are not employed by first class counties any longer but still.
Lets not allow it to deflect from the greater task at hand. Although the next few weeks as we all expect will be pretty grim there could be some real shocks with what comes out and the game itself might never be able to revert back to what it was but that itself in many senses is no bad thing.
This thing is way bigger than Azeem vs Yorkshire now as that's been settled. This issue does not need a "figurehead" it needs everyone. If Azeem's aim was to bring down individuals who had wronged him I guess he'd no longer have a leg to stand on. But that's not what he's been calling for, he's demanding change to end systematic racism within Yorkshire & wider cricket. His posts from 10 years ago (sounds like more to come) shouldn't alter sensible folks views on the situation but you just knew the Farage's et al would be suddenly showing interest today
Yorkshire are gonna get hammered once / if the ECB are ever forced to get their act together aren't they?
Witholding International and Major Match cricket was just the first punishment. Look at how Durham were punished and this frankly dwarfs that in terms of severity and damage to the game
The story has got much much bigger since then too. On the Wisden Weekly podcast https://www.podbean.com/ew/dir-fayrn-1129f555 they speak about it being existential but quite rightly they point out the punishments have got to be punitive and not simply used as barter to get them to agree to alter their ways.
In last week's podcast one of the contributors questioned how on earth he (or any decent person for that matter) could bring himself to go to Headingley next April in light of the revelation that he'd likely be subject to racist abuse and very little would get done about it.
Complete ban from competitions for the 2022 season has been mooted - personally I'd only apply this to the First XI and the ECB can step in and assist the running of the Academy, 2nd XI and womens sides. Re-introduce Yorkshire into Division Two for the start of the 2023 season once the necessary changes have been made to the club including the removal of the Graves Family Trust element to their ownership and a complete overhaul of the club
As said on the podcast there is potentially a "safeguarding issue" relating to the treatment of non-white spectators and players faced by visiting Headingley so it seems unlikely there'll be many wanting to play there or against their dressing room culture next season. The club may even have to go to the wall and then re-form as a new Yorkshire club
I suggested last week (above) Essex might be involved. I'd be surprised if there were many others with recent stuff hanging about them Middlesex and Surrey may have historic 80's 90's stuff coming up and Gloucestershire already know about a few cases but I'd be shocked if any other county let it get to 2020 with this kinda stuff. Think most cricket fans knew Yorkshire would have to be confronted by this stuff eventually. Long time coming...
Well worth watching
Dobell finishes at Cricinfo today and is clearly saving a few things for when he starts his Cricketer appointment
Good on him. Proper old school journalism well trained at B'ham Post & Mail following on from Jack Bannister. Highly regarded now. I recall the days when Sky would avoid having him on that all-so-pally Cricket Writers tv show on Sunday mornings (a handful of times at best)
Basically because they didn't like uncomfortable truths he had to say. Incredible piece of journalism this as with the Trotty piece and no doubt the 'Yorkshire mafia' will be after him. Too many of that lot high up in the ECB and media to be all that confident that things will change for the good up there. I hope for Yorkshire's sake they bite the bullet and instigate wholesale changes. Think of all the talent that's been missed up there last twenty years - and elsewhere tbf
Interesting headline that. Yorkshire like to portray their county attributes as stubbornness and that's what's got the county in this much trouble.
Gale suspended and Moxon off with stress. As with all the others once they are shown the door - as they surely must be - they all need help/education going forwards and will get work elsewhere. The ECB letting them get away with it for this long is majorly at fault for the "stress"
From the Sunday Telegraph today.
Yorkshire are considering releasing the bombshell Azeem Rafiq racism report by Wednesday, with two more former England internationals now fearing they have been named in it.
Senior figures across cricket and some within the club are pushing hard for the full findings to be published imminently as the sport scrambles to restore trust amid the escalating furore.
After Gary Ballance and Michael Vaughan were named this week as among those accused by Rafiq, two other England players hired lawyers in the expectation they will be identified.
The unnamed pair declined to comment when contacted by Telegraph Sport after a week in which Ballance said "I deeply regret" calling Rafiq a "P---" in "my younger years". Vaughan, however, said in his Telegraph Sport column that he "completely and categorically" denies suggestions he used racially insensitive language.
Rafiq made more than 40 allegations, of which seven were proven, and it is now seen as a matter of time before Yorkshire voluntarily publishes the report following mounting pressure.
Lord Patel of Bradford, the interim chairman drafted in after Roger Hutton dramatically quit on Friday, will address the media for the first time on Monday, and talks had taken place over whether it should be published then.
Amid the worst crisis in the club's 158-year history, the Equality and Human Rights Commission became the latest establishment authority to say that it was "deeply concerned about the incidents of racism" against Rafiq. Commission chief executive Marcial Boo said he has written to the club "to ask for more information, including a full copy of their investigation report, to determine if there has been a breach of the law". "We will take action if so," he added.
Yorkshire's reputation has already endured untold damage during a week in which the most senior figures in Government demanded "heads should roll" and questioned whether the England and Wales Cricket Board was "fit for purpose" over its handling of the saga.
Following an "internal review" sparked by the findings of a 12-month inquiry into race claims tabled by Rafiq, the club announced 10 days ago that "there is no conduct or action taken by any of its employees, players or executives that warrants disciplinary action".
However, leading Government figures launched a barrage of attacks on the club this week, leading to almost all advertisers tearing up deals with the club, after it emerged a "P---" slur aimed by Ballance at Rafiq was dismissed in the report as "friendly banter".
Amid the intensifying crisis, Vaughan was also stood down temporarily from his regular BBC show due to be broadcast on Monday after he voluntarily revealed in The Telegraph that he is among the list of current and former Yorkshire officials accused by Rafiq.
Vaughan's "total" denial that he told Asian players "too many of you lot, we need to do something about it" prompted Rana Naved-ul-Hasan, the former Yorkshire all-rounder, to rally behind Rafiq's version of events.
However, a third player alleged to have been present, Ajmal Shahzad, has previously said he has no recollection of Vaughan saying those words relating to a match at Trent Bridge.
Senior club executives now accept they would have been better off releasing the full 100-page report in September - which was already a year since the independent investigation was launched.
Rafiq, 30, captained Yorkshire in Twenty20 cricket but left the club in 2018 and said he was made to feel like an outsider as a Muslim. He filed a legal claim under the Equality Act in December, alleging direct discrimination and harassment on the grounds of race, as well as victimisation and detriment as a result of his efforts to address racism at the club.
On Friday, Hutton quit dramatically ahead of a board meeting at which he faced being ousted and called on Mark Arthur and Martyn Moxon to follow suit after the club were banned from staging England matches and other showpiece fixtures. Yorkshire later confirmed Stephen Willis, the non-executive director who was on the panel that ruled Gary Ballance calling Azeem Rafiq a P--- had been banter, and Hanif Malik had also quit.
Now, Lord Patel, who last year retired as a director of the England & Wales Cricket Board, has been parachuted into the Headingley hotseat to attempt to clean up the mess.
Colin Graves had been willing to return as chairman but that was ultimately viewed as being too toxic an appointment amid accusations Yorkshire had also been institutionally racist during his own tenure.
Lord Patel said: “The club needs to learn from its past errors, regain trust and rebuild relationships with our communities. There is much work to do, including reading the panel’s report, so we can begin the process of learning from our past mistakes.”
Graves, who was ECB chairman until last year, and Lord Patel served together on the board of the governing body. It remains to be seen whether the latter’s appointment will satisfy those who have demanded wholesale change at the club.
Yorkshire were due to host two England men’s games in 2022 – June’s third Test against New Zealand, and July’s third one-day international against South Africa.
3 good discussion pieces on BBC Breakfast this morning including chats with Roland Butcher and Jonathon Agnew
Agnew clearly upset after a chat yesterday with a former colleague who had experienced racism in his playing days
https://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/m0011g46/breakfast-06112021
Forward to 1 hr 31, then 2 hr 29 and finally 3 hr 35.
Damning assessment of the ECB here. Spot on too. All the issues Yorkshire have caused over the years including the monkey chants at Gladstone and Alvin 1982 semi final. TCCB at that time and now the ECB far too cosy with Yorkshire it seems.
https://www.theguardian.com/sport/blog/2021/nov/05/racism-cricket-ecb-azeem-rafiq-yorkshire-cricket
the ECB is “not fit for purpose”. But then, this model was always a punt, a 25-year experiment in how to run cricket based around TV rights and the England team.
Other things have been neglected along the way: the wider mission, the need to see more than just a commodity to be harvested. In Harrison, a marketeer and a salesman, the ECB probably has the figurehead it deserves right now. But sport must be more than this
Interview with Tom Harrison here well worth reading
From this I'm still not entirely sure the ECB have got a complete handle on this or realise the magnitude of the abuses up at Headingley. Talk of similar punishment to what Durham had handed out to them. Surely it'd have to be more severe than that!
Is this issue simply bigger than the ECB or are they just too intertwined with YCCC to act as independent overseers?
Rana Naved (Yorkshire's overseas player in 2009 who played alongside Azeem, Shazad and Adil Rashid in the T20 match at Trent Bridge) has corroborated Azeems allegation against Vaughan.
Another Asian player has spoken of racism in the early 2000's at Yorkshire
I'd suggest Vaughan's media career is toast
I hope Bresnan is not one of the names as he played that day too
Michael Vaughan is named in the report. I presume his is the incident Rafiq has previously described from Trent Bridge 2009 a T20 match when a senior player told him as they walked onto the field "there's too many of you lot, we need to have a word"
He's likely to deny the allegation and it's a trickier one to pin down but does speak to the culture at the club
Well he's long advocated a reduction in the number of counties playing first class cricket so at least we now have one that can be scrubbed from the game...
Worse still to come in terms of the evidence to be presented too. Genuinely feel it might lead to Yorkshire being expelled from first class status for a season or two. They might not be able to afford to field sides at that level either.
I wonder if other counties will get dragged in. I see Gloucestershire put out a statement a month back apologising for not following up a racist incident towards Syd Lawrence at Cheltenham in the 80's. It was almost certainly rife in much of the game back then not just Yorkshire where the culture seems to have carried some of these aspects 25/30 years longer than elsewhere.
Azeem Rafiq put 43 incidents to the investigation. A large number were not even considered by the investigation which has been described as like marking one's own homework.
Fixtures will be delayed no doubt. Can't see them being issued much before Xmas now although I notice the Minor Counties fixture dates are out now and there's another of those slots for 50 over game First Class v National Counties showcase - July 30/August 1st which suggests the 50 over comp will be in August again
Good summary of the case on Radio 4 interview this morning 8.30am. Gary Richardson with George Dobell
from 2 hours 30 mins https://www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/m00114m4
This is indeed a wider issue of the game as a whole at club/county and school level but particular issues exist within Yorkshire at county and club level historically that only probably exist on a much smaller scale elsewhere (Essex and East London with their Bengali communities perhaps?)
ECB will hold a meeting at 6pm tonight then Yorkshire EGM tomorrow
Dobell is quite right the up to a dozen perpetrators from 2008-2018 need help as opposed to ostracising for going along with something that was clearly ingrained in the clubs "win at all costs" and show "true northern grit Yorkshire" mentality but the club (and Yorkshire county cricket structures) needs transforming and needs to let go of its rather dated 1960's/70's outlook
I'm not that surprised. I doubt he'd have forced his way into the ashes on the back of 2 practice games. He can use first half of winter on his technique and if Australia open up after Xmas he could go play in Perth for one of the club sides for a couple of months. Far less hassle and with a view to his long term career prospects