Lord Patel takes over at Yorkshire amid racism row
Lord Kamlesh Patel has been installed as the new chair of Yorkshire following the resignation of Roger Hutton, who departed yesterday over the Azeem Rafiq racism crisis that threatens to amplify amid fresh allegations.
Hutton left his post with immediate effect, calling for the likes of chief executive Mark Arthur and director of cricket Martyn Moxon to follow his lead, though it is understood neither man intends to follow Hutton out of the door.
Speaking at his home, Moxon said: "There's a new chair in place, it's entirely in his hands what happens now." Two men who have stepped down are board members Hanif Malik and Stephen Willis, while another, Neil Hartley, will leave after facilitating a period of transition.
Lord Patel of Bradford, a former England and Wales Cricket Board board member and chair of the governing body's South Asian advisory group, has accepted the task of dragging the county back from arguably the darkest chapter in its long history.
He said: "I'm looking forward to taking this club forward and driving the change that is needed. The club needs to learn from its past errors, regain trust and rebuild relationships with our communities.
"There is much work to do, including reading the panel's report, so we can begin the process of learning from our past mistakes."
Earlier, the Daily Mail carried new claims from an unnamed former player of
Asian descent, which included widespread racial abuse and one instance of being urinated on by a team-mate. That follows an independent report upholding Rafiq's long-running complaint of "racial harassment and bullying".
Elsewhere, one of Yorkshire's best known ex-players, 2005 Ashes-winning England captain Michael Vaughan, continued to offer a complete denial of allegations that he once told a group of Asian team-mates "too many of your lot, we need to do something about it".
But Pakistan international Rana Naved-ul-hasan, an
overseas player at the county during the 2008 and 2009 seasons, claimed to Espncricinfo that he had overhead Vaughan using racially insensitive comments and offered to give evidence to any inquiry.
Vaughan revealed he had been named in an independent report into Rafiq's allegations of institutional racism in his own Daily Telegraph column, but offered a full denial.
Speaking at his home in Knutsford, Cheshire, he added: "We're in different times. I've done my piece last night and I stand by what I say. I've never said anything racist in
my life. I know that in my life, I've never said anything racist to anybody. So, that's what I stand by."
The BBC said yesterday Vaughan had been stood down for Monday night's 'Tuffers and Vaughan' show on BBC Radio 5 Live.
"The show focuses on topical discussion around current cricketing matters and given his personal involvement, we need to ensure we maintain the impartiality of the programme," a corporation spokesperson said.
"We remain in discussion with Michael and his team."