The England and Wales Cricket Board has recommended fines totalling £37,000 for the players charged in the Yorkshire racism scandal.
Former England international Gary Ballance was hit the hardest with a recommended fine of £8,000 and an eight-week suspension.
Ballance – one of six individuals connected with the club accused of using racist language in the case which stemmed from allegations made by former Yorkshire bowler Azeem Rafiq – had already admitted the charge brought against him by the ECB.
The suspension appears to have little consequence given Ballance announced his retirement from playing last month, although at 33 years old he could theoretically return.
The ECB took into account the fact that Ballance had admitted the charge, and apologised, as it gave its recommendations to the independent Cricket Discipline Commission panel.
ECB lawyer Jane Mulcahy KC said: “We understand there has been a significant impact on Mr Ballance’s mental health, and that in April 2023, Mr Ballance announced his retirement from professional cricket.
“So the ECB therefore suggests there be a reprimand, and Mr Ballance be fined £8,000, reduced from £12,500 to take in effect of his admissions.
“We also suggest a strong recommendation be made that he attend a racism and discrimination course at his own expense, particularly if he attends to return to the game in a playing or coaching capacity.
“And also an eight-week suspension, reduced from 10, if Mr Ballance ever returns to ECB-regulated cricket as a player.”
Ballance’s lawyer, Craig Harris, argued the financial penalty should be reduced due to the cost of being involved in the proceedings; namely that he lost his job as a player at Yorkshire, lost a sponsorship contract, and was not considered for England selection.
Harris also pointed to the culture in the Yorkshire dressing room for over a decade – including widespread use of the term ‘P***’ – which was eventually exposed by Rafiq’s bombshell testimony in 2021, and that Zimbabwe-born Ballance was himself the subject of discriminatory remarks.
He said: “This is not a case where Mr Ballance says the words were not discriminatory, or that he has some sort of intellectual deficit. It is accepted he ought to have known better.
“Even if used in a jocular sense, it is only a ‘joke’ because they are playing upon a prejudice, so I don’t go as far to say those rules were not breached.
“But they were breached by someone living and playing within a culture in which the use of such language had become normalised, and where there appears to have been a degree of mutual acceptance that jokes – which ought to have no place in a dressing room or in society – did develop.
“The language got worse all the time that squad spent together and there was no club intervention to eradicate it. He is somebody who himself accepted such jokes being made towards him.”
Yorkshire have admitted to four charges including a “failure to address systemic use of racist and/or discriminatory language over a prolonged period”. The sanctions against the club are expected to be announced next month.
The other five former Yorkshire players facing charges: John Blain, Tim Bresnan, Andrew Gale, Matthew Hoggard and Richard Pyrah, had all previously withdrawn from the disciplinary proceedings and did not provide written submissions. The charges against them were heard in their absence in March.
The ECB recommended former Yorkshire captain and coach Gale be fined £7,500 and suspended for four weeks were he to return to coaching.
Hoggard should be fined £7,500, Bresnan and Blain £5,000 each, and Pyrah £4,000, the ECB said.
Yet as if to illustrate the ECB’s dubious handling of the entire depressing episode, Mulcahy admitted to not knowing whether Pyrah was still coaching, but recommended a two-week suspension anyway.
All five, Mulcahy said, would have been suspended from playing were they still active. Hoggard, for example, is now 46 and retired almost 10 years ago.
Former England captain Michael Vaughan was the only one of the seven players initially charged to appear at the hearing, and he was cleared of using racist language.
The latest in a seemingly never-ending series of hearings ended with CDC chair Tim O’Gorman warning: “It is going to take time for the full decisions to be made and for them to be available in writing. That is going to take several weeks.”
Mottley renews call for Windies women to be treated equally to male counterparts
Barbados Prime Minister Mia Mottley has once again encouraged Cricket West Indies (CWI) to invest and reward the region’s female cricketers in the same manner as the men.
Mottley, who first made the call last year, used the platform on Thursday’s opening day of the CARICOM conference on West Indies cricket themed ‘Reinvigorating West Indies Cricket’, to once again lobby for more attention to be paid to women’s cricket.
“It is the young people and I’m happy that finally it is not just boys, but boys and girls who will become the men and women who can become these global citizens with Caribbean roots. My heart filled with pride this week when Hayley Matthews was heralded by Wisden as the T20 Cricketer of the Year, and it did so because Mr. President, when you and I first met when you took over, it was actually International Women’s Day, March 8, and I asked you then to start the journey of removing the discriminatory practices between men and women,” Mottley said at the event in Trinidad and Tobago.
“Practices that go as far as the quality of the coverage and the camera covering the game, meaning that it becomes less alluring to those who may not be fully engaged purely because when you look at IPL and you look at the women playing cricket in many other jurisdictions it just doesn’t even look the same. That cannot be a metaphor for our own development and the fact and the obligation of removing the discrimination that exists between men and women’s cricket is absolutely critical,” she added.
Mottley declared her belief that the time was right for a historic mixed-gender cricket game to be played in the region.
“I have said to you, and I offer you now publicly again, that Kensington Oval, that iconic ground, could be a location where we break new ground again in history by having a mixed-gender game, recognizing that in the Olympics you’re going to soon have mixed gender relays and we don’t need to wait on others to lead us, but we can resume the leadership in ensuring that as the game has evolved from Test, to 50-over, to T20, to the increase in women’s cricket, that ultimately that will soon be the next step,” she shared.
On that note, the Prime Minister, pointed out that it was also important that opportunities be created for not only male and female cricketers, but for persons who have skills in other areas.
“We have an obligation to be able to level the field by the investments that we have to make in this sport, recognizing that not all may make the team and wear that maroon, but all can participate at different levels to make a living," Mottley noted.
“Whether it is exporting persons to help in coaching across the world…whether it is through the ability of us to have as many of our youngsters play. Whether it is in the creation of the supply of world class and first-class umpires, whether it is in people who are in the business of keeping the field, the outfield and the pitches in good form, or in the ability to sell pitches to the United States of America instead of them buying from Australia. Whatever it is, we must plan now the careful investment that will allow us to see this as a viable productive and economic sector," she ended.
Ramharack stars with four wickets as West Indies clinch thriller against Pakistan in first T20I
West Indies sealed a thrilling one-run win in the first women's T20I against Pakistan in Karachi. The visitors posted 122 after a disciplined bowling performance from Pakistan, which was spearheaded by Fatima Sana and Sadia Iqbal. But West Indies' bowlers responded in kind, shackling the Pakistan innings and turning the chase into a nervy one that went to the death. In the end, it would boil down to two runs off the final delivery, but Shamilia Connell beat the bat, and Shemaine Campbelle behind the stumps effected the run-out.
In the first of five T20Is, West Indies won the toss and elected to bat first as they looked to continue their 100% record in Pakistan on this tour. But on a pitch that gripped under the lights, it was Pakistan who started stronger as Iqbal struck of the second ball to send the talismanic captain Hayley Matthews back for a duck. Diana Baig, the most economical of the Pakistan bowlers, trapped Campbelle behind soon after to leave West Indies wobbling at 14 for two. The partnership between Qiana Joseph and Stafanie Taylor that followed did steady the ship, but Pakistan never quite let them get going.
A pair of valuable cameos - both Chedean Nation and Chinelle Henry scored 13 off 9 balls - helped West Indies tip over the run-a-ball mark, but Pakistan would have felt they had a slight edge at the halfway mark.
That advantage was bolstered by a dynamic innings from opener Sidra Ameen, whose 17-ball 23 put Pakistan ahead of the asking rate by the end of the powerplay. But losing both her and Gull Feroza within four balls of each other without adding to the score brought West Indies roaring back into it, and when Karishma Ramharack cleaned up Ayesha Zafar after a stilted innings, the visitors had edged ahead. But Pakistan captain Dar's 24-ball 27 saw Pakistan seize the advantage again as the game balanced on a tightrope throughout the innings.
It all came to a head in a dramatic final over, with Connell bowling. When Najiha Alvi smacked the penultimate ball for an exquisite inside-out cover drive for four, Pakistan appeared, for one final time, to be sneaking home. But a dot ball would follow, and as Pakistan hearts were broken, West Indies' streak held firm.
West Indies 122 for 9 (Joseph 34, Taylor 30, Sana 3-24) beat Pakistan 121 for 8 (Dar 27, Ramharack 4-15) by one run
IPL: Bairstow century gives Kings stunning win over KKR with record run chase
Jonny Bairstow scored an unbeaten century to lead Punjab Kings to a magnificent record Indian Premier League run chase against Kolkata Knight Riders.
England batter Bairstow scored a stunning 108 not out off 48 balls with nine maximums as the Kings somehow chased down a victory target of 262 with eight balls to spare at Eden Gardens.
Bairstow was helped by Shashank Singh, who smashed an unbeaten 68 from 28 deliveries with eight maximums of his own in a remarkable display of hitting.
Hosts KKR thought they had done enough for victory when a fast start from Phil Salt (75 from 37) and Sunil Narine (71 off 32) set them up a huge total of 261-6, but the Kings battled back to earn a famous triumph.
Data Debrief
This astonishing IPL 2024 campaign has already seen Sunrisers Hyderabad twice break the record for the highest innings score in the competition and now the Kings have made more history by recording the biggest chase ever seen in T20 cricket.
This was Bairstow’s second IPL hundred, more than five years after he registered his first while playing for SRH in 2019, and it has given the Kings just their third victory of the season to snap a four-game losing streak.
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