Committee has Yorkshire report

THE Digital, Culture, Media and Sport select committee has confirmed it is now in possession of the report into Azeem Rafiq’s racism case against Yorkshire.

The parliamentary group will hold an evidence session on Tuesday into the wide-ranging allegations of institutionalised racism against the club and had called on the county to share a full and unredacted copy of the independent investigation beforehand.

Newly-installed Yorkshire chair Lord Kamlesh Patel said he had obliged during a press conference on Monday but the committee were initially unable to confirm receipt. That has now been cleared up, with DCMS committee chair Julian Knight stating: “I can confirm that the DCMS Committee has received the report from Yorkshire County Cricket Club about its investigation into complaints brought by Azeem

Rafiq.

“We will use the contents of the report to inform our hearing next week.

“Any questions about the report’s publication should be put to YCCC. We will not be commenting further in advance of the hearing.”

Yorkshire have also shared the full report with Rafiq’s representatives, the England and Wales Cricket Board and the

Equality and Human Rights

Commission.

Rafiq is set to appear in front of Knight’s committee alongside Patel’s predecessor Roger Hutton, who resigned over the episode, and key figures from the Yorkshire board.

Chief executive Mark Arthur, who has so far resisted calls to follow Hutton’s lead, is expected to appear but under-fire director of cricket Martyn Moxon is currently signed off from work with a “stress-related illness”.

Yorkshire announced on Tuesday that head coach Andrew Gale had been suspended over a historic tweet, allegations unrelated to Rafiq’s claims.