Yorkshire has admitted to four ECB charges relating to allegations of institutional racism at the club, and will not now be required to attend next month’s Cricket Discipline Commission hearings in London. However, a fifth former player has now withdrawn his co-operation from the process.
The five players’ cases will therefore be heard in absentia, with the ECB confirming that the hearings will take place in London between March 1 and 9.
A sixth player, Gary Ballance – the former Yorkshire and England batter who is currently making his Test debut for Zimbabwe – had previously admitted to the use of racially discriminatory language and is not therefore required to appear before the CDC panel.
As a result, the only player expected to appear in person is Michael Vaughan, the former England captain, who hopes to clear his name after being accused by his then-Yorkshire team-mate Azeem Rafiq of telling a group of Asian players, ahead of a T20 fixture in 2009, that “there are too many of you lot” and “we need to do something about it”.
In a press release, the ECB confirmed that Yorkshire had “admitted liability in response to four amended charges, including a failure to address systemic use of racist and/or discriminatory language over a prolonged period and a failure to take adequate action in respect of allegations of racist and/or discriminatory behaviour”.
All parties have been charged with breaches of ECB Directive 3.3, in a period spanning 2004 to 2021. Yorkshire’s previous position on the matter had been that it would “need the co-operation of those in position during this time in order to fully consider and respond to the matters raised”.
However, the club has now admitted to a series of failings that its co-chair, Lord Kamlesh Patel, said was “an important step forward … as part of its journey to learn from the past.”
“Since becoming Chair it has been clear that we needed to accept and take accountability as a club for the cultural issues which allowed racist and discriminatory behaviour to go unchallenged,” Lord Patel said.
“We should be proud of the work that has been done to build new foundations for a club whose ambition is to become truly welcome to all. As I leave the position as Chair, it is fundamental that the recently installed Board and leadership team at the club continue on this mission and I know that they are as committed as I have been to bring Yorkshire back to where it should be, on and off the pitch”.
The independent CDC Panel comprises of Tim O’Gorman (Chair), Mark Milliken-Smith KC and Dr Seema Patel. The March hearing will concern issues of liability, with any sanction arising to be dealt with at a later date.
Source: ESPN Crickinfo