Colin Graves has apologised “personally and unreservedly” to those who experienced racism at Yorkshire after the club’s board approved a loan offer that paves the way for his controversial return as chair.
The debt-ridden county’s long search for fresh investment has brought them back to the man who served as chair between 2012 and 2015 before leaving for the same role at the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB).
With time running out to keep the business viable, and a host of other potential investors no longer at the table, the board has recommended an emergency funding offer fronted by the 75-year-old. The club’s membership will now be asked to vote through the proposal at an extraordinary general meeting on February 2.
Graves’ reinstatement, which is expected to go ahead, represents a divisive move considering the racism scandal which has engulfed Yorkshire in recent years, an episode which partially took place during Graves’ first stint in charge, and has already drawn criticism.
Azeem Rafiq, the spinner-turned-whistleblower who first shed light on the issue, told the PA news agency it would represent “a sad day for all those that have suffered racism”, while MPs have raised concerns.
Graves has been bullish on the issue in the past, causing anger last summer when he told Sky Sports News that while he had never witnessed any racial discrimination during his tenure “there could have been a lot of banter”.
But he has now moved to adopt a more conciliatory tone and distanced himself from those comments.
“I apologise personally and unreservedly to anyone who experienced any form of racism at Yorkshire County Cricket Club,” he said in a statement.
“Discrimination or abuse based on race, ethnicity or any other protected characteristic is not and never will be acceptable.
“I profoundly regret some of the language I used when asked about the events that took place when I was chairman, at a time when I was no longer at the club. I understand and sympathise with those who regarded my comments as dismissive or uncaring.
“I am determined to do whatever is required to ensure Yorkshire County Cricket Club continues to reflect the communities it represents. The club cannot and will not succeed unless it is united in its commitment to meet the highest professional standards, on and off the field.
“I want to make it clear that we accept the findings of the report carried out by the Independent Commission for Equity in Cricket (ICEC) and its recommendations. If I am confirmed as chairman, the Equality, Diversity and Inclusion work that has been carried out over the last two years will continue.
“I hope that new and older members, former players, commercial sponsors and broadcasters will work with us to ensure that everyone connected with Yorkshire cricket is proud to be associated with the club.”
That stance is unlikely to appease all of his detractors, chief among them Rafiq. He told PA: “It’s inevitable now but it is going to be a sad day for all those that have suffered racism.
“Unfortunately I think the members’ vote (to ratify Graves’ return) is probably the most inevitable part. It’s not for me to sit here and try to change their mind but I would say be careful what you wish for in terms of his plans for the club.
“Whether it’s members, sponsors or people who work at the club, history will remember which side you were on.”
Sporting Equals, a charity which promotes ethnic diversity in UK Sport, said on Monday that Graves’ reinstatement would “undermine the progress” the game has made against racism and “make a mockery” of those who had been unfairly treated.
Graves made a direct appeal to the club’s membership ahead of their vote next month.
“I hope that members will vote in favour of this deal when it is put to them,” he said.
“Yorkshire CCC is one of the most illustrious sporting institutions in the country and one of the most successful clubs in world cricket. I believe its best days still lie ahead, but success on the field cannot be achieved without financial stability off the pitch.
“There are huge challenges ahead in order to achieve this. But if the offer is accepted by members, I will lead a management team which will oversee an immediate injection of capital into the club. It is our intention to get Yorkshire back to winning ways; grow the women’s game; and inspire a new generation of children and young adults to watch and play cricket. Yorkshire must be a club that is open and welcoming to everyone who shares a passion for the game, from every part of society.”
Graves’ money saved the White Rose from financial oblivion once before, when he first became involved in 2002, but debts of almost £15million to the Graves family trust lie at the heart of the current financial difficulties.
It has been reported that the consortium would offer an immediate loan of £1million forthcoming, followed quickly by new investment worth a further £4m.
It has also been confirmed that the club have agreed to add Phillip Hodson, Sanjeev Gandhi and Sanjay Patel, the former managing director of The Hundred, to the board.
Tape ball programme can help England find unorthodox talent – Richard Gould
The England and Wales Cricket Board hopes to unearth a new seam of talent beyond the game’s traditional league structure with a national tape ball scheme that allows players to thrive without “whites, willow and leather”.
The practice of using a soft ball wrapped in electrical tape to aid swing and variable bounce is a common one in Asia, where it has helped produce express pace bowlers like Haris Rauf, Shaheen Afridi and spinners such as Rashid Khan and Shakib-al-Hasan, but has been slow to enter the mainstream conversation in the United Kingdom.
The Chance to Shine charity has long pioneered tape ball cricket as part of its engagement hubs and now, with the ECB keen to live up to its lofty aspiration of becoming the most inclusive team sport in the country, it is at the heart of a new core cities programme designed to engage ‘diverse communities in urban areas’.
Speaking at a launch event where games were hosted in a warehouse space in Birmingham, ECB chief executive Richard Gould was optimistic about reaching out to those with an interest in cricket but limited access to the pavilions and prepared pitches in the club setup.
“We talk about clubs with picket fences around them. In the past that has been seen as the preserve of the ECB. We’ve missed a complete trick on that,” he said.
“When we talk about the recreational game we’re not just talking about Premier League clubs and village cricket clubs now. We’re talking about all forms of cricket that take place.
“You can play the game anywhere, any time, with anybody, in any environment you want. You don’t have to have whites, willow and leather to do it. You can just pick up a bat and a ball and have some fun.”
As well as fulfilling its remit of reaching out to all comers at a grassroots level, Gould also believes there are benefits to finding cricketers with different styles who have learned the game outside the traditional, private-school heavy pathways.
“Without doubt there are,” he said. “We have to get out and try to find the talent. More to the point, we have to try and find talent in areas that we haven’t normally looked for it.
“I do think county pathways will be looking to make sure they don’t miss out on this talent. It’s just about punching through all of our normal procedures and finding ways to both get people in the game and unearthing that talent which may be unorthodox and great.”
Meg Lanning: Exercise obsession and not enough fuel led to Australia retirement
Former Australia captain Meg Lanning revealed her “obsession” with exercise and not eating enough precipitated her surprise international retirement late last year.
Lanning was at the helm of one of the most dominant eras the sport has ever seen but she missed last year’s Ashes for medical reasons and pulled the plug on her Australia career in November.
She opened up about her hidden health issues on the Howie Games podcast, explaining that running up to 90 kilometres a week coupled with eating two small meals a day led to her dropping from 64kg to 57kg.
View this post on Instagram“I was over-exercising and under-fuelling,” the 32-year-old said. “It wasn’t a physical thing. I’ve always been really physically active and liked that side of it, but it became a bit of an obsession.
“I’d maybe eat a couple of meals a day if I was lucky but they weren’t significant. Initially it didn’t start off as a deliberate thing, it just became a bit of a new normal.
“But it slowly crept into conscious decisions because essentially I felt good.
“I wasn’t getting injured like everybody was telling me I was going to do. It sort of just spiralled and I was in denial, even though everybody kept telling me something wasn’t quite right.
“I was not in a place to be able to go on tour and play cricket and give the commitment levels that were required for that Ashes series, mentally and physically.”
Lanning, who led Australia to five World Cup titles in total and Commonwealth Games glory in 2022, said her struggle was not officially diagnosed as an eating disorder.
“It wasn’t labelled as that but I was exercising a lot and I wasn’t eating enough to fuel that – it was a bit out of whack,” Lanning said.
“It was a bit of control because I felt very out of control with what my future looked like. I felt like I was in control of that and that made me feel better.”
Lanning sought help from medical professionals after also struggling with insomnia and continues to play domestically, while she has been signed for London Spirit for The Hundred this year.
“I dreaded night time because I knew I would go to bed and not be able to sleep,” she said. “That would make me so mad. I would just get more angry with myself. If you can’t sleep, you can’t do anything.
“I feel like I’m in a good spot now. Cricket is still part of what I do. But I wasn’t cut out for the international touring schedule and what came with all of that.”
Yorkshire not in ECB’s new ‘Tier 1’ revamp of women’s professional game
Yorkshire will have to wait until 2027 to take part in the England and Wales Cricket Board’s new ‘Tier 1’ revamp of the women’s professional game, after eight other counties were selected to lead the way.
Durham, Essex, Hampshire, Lancashire, Nottinghamshire, Somerset, Surrey and Warwickshire have been chosen as hosts, with the governing body abolishing the existing regional structure in favour of alignment with the first-class counties.
The blow to Yorkshire, for whom this is a further setback after several turbulent years on and off the field, has been mitigated by a promise to bring them into an expanded competition in the third season.
Glamorgan have been given the same assurances and both will receive additional funding to help build their pathway.
But there will be no ‘Tier 1’ cricket at Lord’s in the foreseeable future, with MCC declining to put itself forward and Middlesex among those overlooked. Sussex have also been left on the outside looking in, despite a long and strong commitment to the women’s game.
They will be hoping to be included as the elite level continues to grow, with the ECB outlining plans to further expand to 12 teams by 2029.
ECB chief executive Richard Gould said: “I’d like to congratulate those counties who have been successful in their bids.
“I’m also delighted that in light of the support we have seen and the strength of the bids we have considered, we can accelerate our plans, including new top tier professional teams at Glamorgan and Yorkshire by 2027 with a further two being introduced by 2029.
“More professional teams means more women able to make a career out of being a cricketer, more role models to inspire future generations, and more of the country having a women’s professional team to follow nearby.
“I recognise today’s announcement will also be disappointing to those who haven’t been successful at this stage. But with the new three-tier structure we are introducing, there is still a huge opportunity for them to compete in the other tiers so together we can all realise the potential of women’s domestic cricket.”
Beth Barrett-Wild, the ECB’s director of the women’s professional game, praised the calibre of offers from around the country.
“At the start of this tender process we challenged the first-class counties to show us their vision for the women’s professional game and to demonstrate their desire and commitment to becoming one of our professional Tier 1 clubs,” she said.
“Over the last couple of months it’s been brilliant to see the time and energy that has gone into the submissions, and I’ve been hugely impressed by the quality and ambition of the bids.
“It’s clear that the game is united in wanting to take the women’s professional game forward. I’m energised about what comes next, for the counties themselves, for the players, for fans and for everyone who wants to see women’s cricket continue its accelerated trajectory.”
The ECB has put £5million per year of new funding into the women’s domestic set-up, rising to £8million when Yorkshire and Glamorgan come aboard.
It estimates a potential increase of 80 per cent in the number of professional female players.
There will be no promotion or relegation between 2025 and 2028, allowing the new three-tier system to bed in.
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