THE former Yorkshire County Cricket Club chairman Colin Graves has come under fire for remarks in which he called instances of racism at the club “banter,” which have drawn criticism from the England and Wales Cricket board (ECB).
The club accepted the four allegations brought by the ECB in connection with how they handled claims of racism and bullying made by their former player Azeem Rafiq, and a hearing to determine sanctions is scheduled for June 27.
One of the allegations the club pleaded guilty to is failing to address the long-term, systemic use of racist and/or discriminatory language.
In contrast, Graves said in an interview that no complaints of racism were made to him when he served as chairman from 2012 to 2015.
On Monday (12), Graves said on Sky Sports News: “I think there have been odd occasions where words have been said that people may regret afterward.
“I don’t think it was done on a racist, savage basis. I think there was a lot of – I know people don’t like the word banter – but I think there could have been a lot of banter in there about it, and I know people don’t like that.
“But when you play cricket and you’re part of cricket teams, and you’re in cricket dressing rooms, that’s what happened in the past. But the world has changed, society has changed, it’s not acceptable. I understand that I accept it, full stop.”
The ECB expressed disappointment at the comments, saying: “We must never again hear the accounts like Azeem Rafiq’s, where racist slurs are used as part of normalised language.
“These events, along with many issues experienced by Azeem and others during their time at Yorkshire, have been upheld more than once, including during proceedings overseen by the Cricket Discipline Committee (CDC).
“We vehemently disagree that this is ‘just banter’ and believe any debate in regard should stop immediately. Racism isn’t banter.”
Regarding the claims of racism, Graves, who withdrew his candidature to retake the chairmanship of Yorkshire last week, stated: “When I was chairman of the club when some of these allegations were made, I can tell you now, nothing was brought up within the club.”
In response to Graves’ comments, a statement from the board of Yorkshire County Cricket Club read: “We note Colin’s position that he was not aware of, or witness to, any racism at Yorkshire and that there existed only “banter”.
“As a board, we maintain that we needed to accept and take responsibility for the cultural issues which allowed racist and discriminatory behaviour to go unchallenged, and we have accepted four amended charges from the Cricket Discipline Commission.
“We remain entirely focused on securing the short and long-term future of Yorkshire County Cricket Club and making it a welcoming club for everyone.”
Last month, six former Yorkshire players received sanctions for using racial or discriminatory language. Michael Vaughan, a former England captain, was the seventh person who was found not guilty of using such words.
Current board member and non-executive director Baroness Tanni Grey-Thompson has been appointed as co-chair to work alongside Lord Patel until the Annual General Meeting (AGM) and will continue to serve as interim Chair until the new Chair is appointed.
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