Rafiq slams Root’s claims he saw no racism at Yorkshire
Test captain leaves former team-mate ‘incredibly hurt’ Chief executive Arthur is the latest to resign from club board
England Test captain Joe Root came under fire from Azeem Rafiq last night for saying he had not seen or heard racism at Yorkshire during his 14 years at the club.
Root was asked three times at a press conference from England’s Ashes training base in Queensland whether he had heard racism or could remember times when he should have called it out. “When I look back now, no I can’t,” he said.
It prompted an angry response from Rafiq, the former Yorkshire player at the centre of the racism storm, who wrote on Twitter: “Disappointed is not even the feeling. Incredibly hurt. But uncomfortable truths are hard to accept it seems.”
Root added that “it is clear things happened at the club and we have to make sure we eradicate it” and offered to help Lord Patel, the new interim chairman, rebuild. Mark Arthur, the embattled chief executive, was the latest figure to resign from the club last night.
Root, Rafiq and Gary Ballance were close team-mates and contemporaries at Yorkshire. Root and Rafiq are the same age and Rafiq played in the same Yorkshire team when Root made his first-class debut in 2009.
Rafiq has previously spoken highly about Root and his support during his fight with the club, calling him an “outstanding guy”.
Root said in a prepared release yesterday that the events at Yorkshire had “fractured our game and torn lives apart”. “The most important thing that we have to look at now is how we move forward as a sport, how we move forward as a society as well,” he added.
Rafiq was described as a “whistleblower” this week by Patel, who said he “should never have been put through” the racism scandal.
Last week Ballance was suspended from international duty by England after admitting he was the player who called Rafiq “P---”, which was accepted as “banter” by the independent report commissioned by Yorkshire.
Asked if he thought anyone found guilty of racism should be drummed out of the sport, Root said: “From my point of view, we all make mistakes. Racism is something we have to eradicate but I do think people deserve a second chance.”
Root answered “no” when asked if he recognised the culture of racism at Yorkshire depicted in public in recent weeks. He added: “I can only speak from my personal experiences.”
Yorkshire’s embattled chief executive finally resigned last night after intense pressure over his alleged inaction during the Azeem Rafiq racism storm.
Mark Arthur, whose departure had been anticipated for days, declined to acknowledge the Rafiq furore in a statement in which he instead defended his record.
“I’ve had eight fantastic years at Yorkshire,” he insisted, before listing 10 highlights that included a “six-year south Asian engagement programme”.
Arthur’s exit was confirmed less than 24 hours after The Daily Telegraph laid bare the criticism he faces in the yet-to-be-released report into the Rafiq case. Investigators found he “dismissed” Rafiq’s claims as “vague”, and missed a chance to settle “amicably” with him when he and others failed to pursue three warnings of racism in 2018.
Rafiq had also this week renewed his long-standing calls for Arthur and director of cricket Martyn Moxon, who has been signed off with stress, to quit.
Arthur follows the lead of former chairman Roger Hutton by leaving his post at Headingley immediately. Lord Patel, who replaced Hutton on Friday and has since set about instituting initiatives related to the allegations against the club, is believed to have told Arthur his position had become untenable. It is likely Arthur agreed a severance package.
Thanking Arthur “for his tenure”, Patel said in a statement: “This is an important moment for the club, which is ready to move forward with new leadership, which will be vital in driving the change we urgently need. We know there is still much work to be done and more difficult decisions to be made. We need to rebuild the trust of the fans, the cricketing world and the public.”
Arthur did not respond to requests for comment last night on whether he would still attend a Digital, Culture, Media and Sport select committee hearing alongside Hutton and Rafiq next week.
Leaked extracts of the club’s racism report, which is now expected to be made public next week, contain blistering criticism of Arthur and Moxon.
The report found that Rafiq, who this week agreed a sixfigure settlement, was willing to avoid what would become a toxic legal row in 2018, but Yorkshire are alleged to have instead tried to “wash its hands” of him by releasing him from his contract while he was on compassionate leave.
As he left the club last night, Arthur made no attempt to explain his actions or join Patel in apologising to Rafiq over seven proven allegations of racism. Instead, he offered a bullet-point list of the “many highlights” of his time at the club. He signed off: “I would like to thank the members for their support and wish the club all the very best in the years to come.”
The Telegraph revealed yesterday how a delegation of Yorkshire staff had previously attempted to force the board to protect Arthur and Moxon. Prior to the controversial announcement last month that no members or executives would be disciplined, the group wrote to the board that the pair were being unfairly blamed.
“The criticism aimed at, and the subsequent pain felt by, both our director of cricket [Moxon] and chief executive [Arthur] is not only misdirected but is also grossly unfair,” the group wrote. “We see no support from the board to protect these two.”
However, Patel rejected the sentiments yesterday, saying that points laid out in the leaked letter were “troubling for many reasons, and further evidence of the wider issues the club has faced”.
Arthur’s stated highlights at the club also included the financing and construction of the new South Stand at Headingley, tackling debts and presiding over back-to-back County Championship wins.