"It is an honour and privilege to be appointed and be back at Yorkshire CCC," said Colin Graves; The racism scandal began when bowler Azeem Rafiq spoke out about the discrimination he faced during his time as a player
Thursday 8 February 2024 18:55, UK
Yorkshire have confirmed the controversial return of Colin Graves to the board of the club.
The 76-year-old has been appointed as a non-executive director, ahead of his election as chair at Friday's board meeting.
Graves will succeed interim chair Baroness Tanni Grey-Thompson, who will remain on the board as a non-executive director, and the previous chair Harry Chathli.
Yorkshire's members accepted a loan offer to the debt-ridden club from Graves, who previously served as chairman and helped to save them from financial ruin in 2002, and it received overwhelming support from members at a heated general meeting on Sunday.
His comeback has been hugely contentious, however, given the racism scandal that has engulfed the club since 2020 took place partially on his watch, with Yorkshire member Gurminder Singh speaking out at the EGM to say it was Graves who had "led [Yorkshire] down the path" to their current difficulties.
Graves, who has previously apologised for the mistakes of the past, vowed "lessons have been learned".
He said: "It is an honour and privilege to be appointed and be back at Yorkshire CCC.
"I will work tirelessly with the board to resolve the financial position in which the club currently finds itself, and to restore financial stability and sustainability to Yorkshire cricket for generations to come.
"Equally, it is my personal pledge to members and to the entire Yorkshire public that, regardless of background, community or ethnicity, all will be welcome in the fully inclusive culture and environment of The Yorkshire County Cricket Club. There will never be any exceptions.
"I have unreservedly apologised for any, and all mistakes either I or the club has made over the painful and difficult years of the recent past.
"Lessons have been learned and will continue to be acted on as we move forward and focus on the future of our great club. Yorkshire CCC will become a sporting institution of which everyone can be proud."
Last month, when the board recommended to members that Graves' offer be accepted, Azeem Rafiq, who spoke out in 2020 about the discrimination he faced during his time as a player, said cricket is "not safe" for ethnic minority cricketers and says the Headingley club "means absolutely nothing to me anymore".
Members were asked to recommend the loan offer from Graves in a notice issued on January 11. It consists of a two-part unsecured personal loan of £1m from Graves, while the new non-executive directors will work with the board to arrange a further £4m of funding over the next five months.
However, Chathli and chief executive Stephen Vaughan both made clear to members that as things stood now, the club would be facing administration without Graves' offer.
Former Yorkshire all-rounder Rafiq gave a harrowing testimony in front of MPs in late 2021, detailing the abuse he received at the club across two spells between 2008 and 2018, and told Sky Sports News Graves' potential comeback shows cricket has not changed.
Rafiq said: "There is a sense of sadness, a bit of anger. The message it clearly sends out is cricket is not a place that is safe for people like me: people from South Asian communities or people of colour.
"Cricket has made that loud and clear with this appointment. The fact is cricket does not care it has proven to be institutionally racist [in a report conducted by the Independent Commission for Equity in Cricket]. The powers that be, quite frankly, are telling us to leave the game.
"They are telling us, 'we might say we are sorry but we are not, we might say that we want you but we don't, so take the hint and leave'. That is what cricket is telling people from South Asian culture."
Rafiq has "no sympathy" for Yorkshire's board, saying "the plan all along has been to go to Colin" and telling Sky Sports News he had seen emails from as early as last February revealing Graves' return was likely.
Graves apologised to anyone who had experienced racism at Yorkshire. Rafiq, who spoke out in 2020 about the discrimination he faced during his time as a player, said at the time he did not accept that apology.
Graves' previous tenure at Yorkshire was between 2012 and 2015, a period of time in which the county was fined for failing to address the systemic use of discriminatory or racist language.
