Bird: Nothing to do with me

DICKIE Bird has distanced himself from the racism storm that has brought shame on Yorkshire County Cricket Club.

Yorkshire have been left in total turmoil as the fallout from the Azeem Rafiq racism investigation continues to bring the club to its knees.

A report upheld seven of the 43 allegations Rafiq made against the club, but despite this, the former county champions refused to take action against those responsible.

But the backlash has been immense, with the ECB banning Yorkshire from staging future international games, while a host of sponsors and commercial partners have ended their association with the club.

Chairman Roger Hutton has been forced to resign along with two other board members, with Lord Kamlesh Patel of Bradford appointed as a director and new chair.

Bird served as Yorkshire president in 2014 and is widely regarded as one of the county’s favourite sons. The 88-year-old, below, played for the White Rose before making his name as one of the game’s most charismatic and influential umpires. He has rejected the chance to comment on the growing crisis at Headingley.

Bird said: “I’d rather not get involved. It had nothing to do with me, so I don’t want to comment.” Lord Patel said: “The club needs to learn from its past errors, regain trust and rebuild relationships with our communities “Yorkshire is lucky to have a vast talent pool of cricketers, and passionate supporters, from all of our communities and we must re-engage with everyone to make a better Yorkshire County Cricket Club for everyone.”