Yorkshire chairman Kamlesh Patel said on Thursday he had received “phenomenally racist” letters in response to Azeem Rafiq’s allegations of racial abuse and bullying while playing for the county. On the day Test cricket returned to Headingley’s HQ in Yorkshire, Patel also revealed that the county would have gone bankrupt had England played Leeds again. Pakistani-born former off-spinner Rafiq first made allegations of racism and bullying in September 2020, related to his two spells in Yorkshire.
Rafiq testified to a parliamentary committee last year, leading to mounting pressure on Yorkshire for their previous failure to take disciplinary action.
That eventually led to a massive clean-up of senior board members and technical staff.
The England and Wales Cricket Board also threatened to withdraw lucrative internationals from Headingley unless changes were made.
Reforms promoted by new chairman Patel have averted a financial disaster for Yorkshire.
But the matter is far from settled, with the ECB’s disciplinary charges against the club and “a number of individuals”, which officials have not yet named.
Patel, who spoke on the first day of the third England-New Zealand test at Headingley on Thursday, was asked on BBC Radio if he had received racist mail.
“Phenomenally racist,” he replied. “We have a very small but very vocal group of individuals who do not accept that racism has taken place at this club.
“I think we need to go beyond that denial. Racism runs in society. It certainly happened at this club.”
However, Patel added: “Ninety to 95 percent of the members and people I meet on the street and on the train have thanked you for what you do and have supported me tremendously.
“We know there’s misogyny, discrimination, power imbalances and these things happen. It’s happened badly here.
“We had to change for the better and I really think we are.”
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When asked if Yorkshire would have gone bankrupt if they had been stripped of Test cricket as a penalty, Patel said: “In simple terms, yes. I think we would have done that.
“If practice matches or international matches did not come back here, we would go bankrupt.”
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