Hit for 6! Race row Yorkshire’s ground given big match ban
It’s the scene of some of England’s greatest cricketing triumphs. But as former captain Vaughan is dragged into Headingley storm...
HEADINGLEY, one of England’s most famous cricket grounds, was banned from hosting international matches yesterday as the Yorkshire racism row escalated.
Cricket chiefs slammed the county’s handling of the ‘abhorrent’ abuse allegations made by former player Azeem Rafiq and said it was causing serious damage to the reputation of the sport.
The suspension of the Leeds venue for internationals, plus the suggestion of further punitive sanctions by the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB), is likely to send Yorkshire County Cricket Club into financial meltdown.
Last night former England captain Michael Vaughan was dragged into the row. He revealed that Yorkshire’s report into the issue accuses him of saying, in reference to Rafiq and two other Asian players, that there were ‘too many of you lot’.
Vaughan strongly denied making the remark, writing in The Daily Telegraph: ‘If Rafiq believes something was said at the time to upset him then that is what he believes. It is difficult to comment on that except to say it hurts me hugely to think I potentially affected someone.
‘I take it as the most serious allegation ever put in front of me and I will fight to the end to prove I am not that person.’
Headingley has hosted some of the most memorable moments in the game’s history. In 1981 Ian Botham and Bob Willis combined to take England from the brink of defeat against Australia to an unlikely victory, turning an Ashes series on its head.
Two years ago, Ben Stokes scored 135 to lead England to an equally epic last-gasp win over the Aussies. And in 1977, Yorkshire legend Geoffrey Boycott scored his 100th first-class century on the ground to help win a Test against Australia.
The loss of England internationals will be a multi-million-pound hammer blow to the county. The ECB said Yorkshire’s failure to act was ‘a significant breach of its obligations’ and it would be suspended from hosting major fixtures ‘until it has clearly demonstrated that it can meet the standards expected’.
Tens of thousands of tickets have already been sold for matches next summer against New Zealand and South Africa.