Yorkshire CCC

Trust me there's more than Ballance who are in for a rough time. The ECB due to him being a central contract holder in the past will have advised him to speak out. The longer he remained silent and they had the report, the more scrutiny would be placed on the ECB.
Next question is, did the ECB at any time pick Mr Ballance whilst these accusations were with Yorkshire? Did Yorkshire notify the ECB?

 

My only problem with this action, is that the innocent fans then get punished for this. The kids can’t go and watch T20 and this then puts the county’s cricket game backwards in terms of future development.

I don’t condone the club’s actions, but any action against the club should be against the individuals who are guilty of it and those guilty of covering it up. Not the fans and the kids themselves.

 

Trust me there's more than Ballance who are in for a rough time. The ECB due to him being a central contract holder in the past will have advised him to speak out. The longer he remained silent and they had the report, the more scrutiny would be placed on the ECB.

So basically without any knowledge to the contrary, you are rubbishing the statement by Ballance. Surprised I am not

 

It's all a sad state of affairs, is this. The Yorkshire board all need to do the right thing and go, and allow a team to take over and ensure there is no longer a racist undercurrent at the club.

I'm a bit torn on the Ballance/Rafiq stuff, though. I can only speak from personal experience. As a close group, my mates and I get very close to the bone when taking the piss out of each other. I've said things to them that I wouldn't dream about saying to someone else, and they have done the same with me. We've targetted things about each other that are seriously sensitive, but because we're so close we understand that it is all just piss-taking, and not our true feelings. From What Ballance has said, he feels his actions were upon the same lines(Obviously Rafiq's stance go against that, and I feel we will never know for sure what the truth is).

But at the end of the day the terms used have no place in today's society(in any times society really, but we know that wasn't the case), and any institutional racism needs stamping out, full stop.

 

Agree with all you say there though I will never understand the culture of needling your mates and taking the p**s by picking at their weak spots. I know some stuff about my mates that I know would hurt or embarrass them. I'd never dream of using it to get a rise out of them.
One of the first things I was told on starting at the pit was... "Tha's got ter be able ter tek thi pillock". Fortunately I always could but I also found the whole ethos distasteful and, to some, I would imagine it's traumatic. They are also put in the position that if they don't fall in with the "banter" they will inevitably get targeted even more.
I'd stress I'm not having a go at you, I'm sure your situation is not like that. It's just a segment of male bravado I've never liked as a rule. I'm not sure about Rafiq as an individual but I could quite easily see that he had to fall in with the "pillocking" to survive and fit in.

 

Yorkshire ccc have called an emergency board meeting for Friday .

 

It's amazing how motivational the removal of sponsorship can be.

 

As someone once said money talks. They are only backtracking because of revenue lost.

 

Absolutely. They've proved utterly shameless morally but money seems to be what hits the spot.

 

Me too. The whole thing stinks. I'm Yorkist through and through but I hope, and expect, the club to be hammered. Suspension of test status is likely.
If I understand things properly, a number of the 36 allegations made by Azeem that were not proven, were because people refused to cooperate with the inquiry. On that basis there is possibly a lot more to come out when he gets to speak under parliamentary privilege
Hard to see how Mark Arthur, who I see as Yorkshire's own version of Tom Harrison, can survive. Similarly with Martyn Moxon, and it will be interesting to see how Andrew Gale comes out of this. I can envisage all three going, and tbh it wouldn't bother me a jot now.
Of concern is that Colin Graves is reportedly prepared to step in when Chair Hutton resigns. He's the last person we want near the club at this time, esp. as he recently went after George Dobell legally (Dobell is ,and has been, doing a lot of advocating for Azeem). But it seems the Graves family trust is owed £15 million by the club, so he may be impossible to ignore, as there is likely some upcoming financial restructuring.

Wouldn't it be nice to have people of colour and women involved in management and at board level at YCCC?

 

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/ar...Rafiq-hits-ex-England-star-Gary-Ballance.html

Wow could be a dozen names to come out. On a totally unrelated topic i am surprised Michael Vaughan hasn't once mentioned any of this when he's a prolific tweeter and always one of the first to share an opinion on the big stories of his profession.

 

they’ll probably sack ballance and think there jobs done. They should all resign en masse, after releasing the report fully and also sacking every single person involved.

 

Suspended from hosting England matches and The Hundred...

https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/cricket/59169535

I believe Yorkshire have called an emergency board meeting for tomorrow. Clearly just sacking Ballance isn't going to wash.

 

https://www.theguardian.com/sport/2...in-to-azeem-rafiq-case-cricket-racism-scandal

Northern Superchargers will be playing at Durham then. This mess is going to cost the county millions from lost revenue. Their lack of action is going to risk bankrupting the club and losing all their best players they can no longer afford to keep.

 

It’s sad for Yorkshire cricket lovers, but the club has needed its arse kicking for years, way too insular and outdated in its running.

 

Well, I was looking forward to going to the ODI but if not being allowed to host it pulls YCCC kicking and screaming into the 21st century then it's a price worth paying.

 

Agree with this. Me and my mates are the same. If someone out of our group said the same stuff to us, we’d be kicking off, that’s how bad it is.

It’s all to do with context really. And I’d say if they’ve been close mates for so long, they’ll know the context. It seems Ballance has been given a bit of a rough ride here.

 

ECB have called this wrong.

Why punish the Yorkshire supporters and fans…..

The folk who are guilty should be removed from the club, not the club itself.

Disgraceful and will affect lots of adults and kids alike.

 

We were on our way to Old Trafford for the 5th test vs India when it got called off. We used the refunds to buy a ticket at Headingley for next year. Now we’re going to have to get another refund! 100% the correct decision though.

 

Why is it? You are being punished for the fault of others.

Punish/sack the board etc. But don’t punish the innocent fans……