Colin Graves is close to completing a controversial return to Yorkshire as chair after the club’s board recommended that members accept the terms of a loan agreement.
Here the PA news agency looks more closely at the details.
What has happened?
Graves, who helped rescue the club from financial oblivion in 2002 and served as chair between 2012 and 2015, has reached an agreement which secures Yorkshire’s immediate financial future. He has personally agreed to loan £1million immediately with a further £4m of funding to come over a five-month period, on the condition that he returns as chair and three other individuals – Phillip Hodson, Sanjay Patel and Sanjeev Gandhi – join the board. Sources close to the club have previously told PA that Yorkshire faced the very real threat of entering administration without an immediate cash injection.
Why is his return controversial?
Graves was a senior figure at Yorkshire across the bulk of a 17-year period between 2004 and 2021 where the club have admitted to an England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) charge of failing to address the systemic use of racist and discriminatory language. In an interview with Sky Sports last June Graves said no allegation of racism was ever raised to him but admitted there was “a lot of banter”, comments which were widely criticised at the time, including by Yorkshire and the ECB.
Why is he coming back then?
Yorkshire chair Harry Chathli wrote to members on Thursday to say the board had “exhausted all other options” before agreeing to recommend the Graves offer. The club requires working capital in the short term and has to address longer-term debt, with a major chunk of that – almost £15m – owed to the Graves family trust.
What has Graves said?
He released a statement on Thursday morning apologising to anyone who had experienced racism at Yorkshire, and “profound regret” about the ‘banter’ comment in last year’s Sky interview. He also accepted the Independent Commission for Equity in Cricket (ICEC) findings last year. Its panel found racism was “entrenched” within cricket and that women routinely faced sexism and misogyny.
What has the reaction to Graves’ return been?
Azeem Rafiq – who was found to have been the victim of racism at Yorkshire in a Cricket Discipline Commission case which concluded last year – has refused to accept Graves’ apology.
“We’ve seen a lot of grand apologies and I’ve believed them – not any more,” he told PA.
“This is a clear message to me, to other people that have been abused, to south Asians, to people of colour, that cricket is not a place for you. Actions speak louder than words and at the first point of challenge the game has shown exactly what it is, which is institutionally, systemically, racist.”
The Culture, Media and Sport committee, which heard harrowing testimony from Rafiq in November 2021, has invited Graves to appear before it, warning it will be “watching closely” over the next few months.
The ECB welcomed Graves’ commitment to continuing efforts that have been made since 2021 to make Yorkshire a more inclusive club, but warned of its “significant powers” to hold the club and Graves to account if progress stalls.
What happens next?
Members will be asked to vote on a special resolution allowing Graves, Hodson, Patel and Gandhi to immediately join the board at an extraordinary general meeting at Headingley on February 2.
Six individuals – including current chair Chathli – will leave the board on that date, but Baroness Tanni Grey-Thompson is understood to be one of two independent non-executive directors who will stay on.
ECB chief insists no decision made on Mott future
England and Wales Cricket Board chief executive Richard Gould has denied reports a decision has already been made on Matthew Mott's future as white-ball coach.
Mott's future has been called into question in the aftermath of England's failure to defend their T20 World Cup crown in the United States and West Indies, losing to India in the semi-finals.
Mott also oversaw England's calamitous 50-over World Cup campaign last year, as they lost six of their nine matches in India and crashed out in the group stage.
Reports earlier this week suggested the decision had already been made to dispense with Mott's services, with Eoin Morgan a contender to succeed him, though the former limited-overs captain has since said he has no interest in the role.
Asked by BBC Test Match Special if Mott's future had already been decided, Gould said: "That's not true. That's certainly not true.
"Matthew Mott is a really good guy and coach. He's got a great track record and it is the same with [captain] Jos [Buttler].
"We are always assessing options - that is what happens in high-performance sport, you are always assessing your options.
"You never want to be drawn into being given the dreaded vote of confidence or anything like that. Competitive sport always brings scrutiny and decisions.
"We'll constantly want to assess our options but we'll always want to do the right thing by the sport, the team and individuals."
West Indies grab three late wickets on day one as third Test against England in the balance
England lost three wickets in a dramatic end to day one of the third Test against West Indies, leaving them in a precarious position after restricting the tourists for 282.
Gus Atkinson finished with figures of 4-67, while Chris Woakes took 3-69 for England, as only a fine sixth-wicket stand from Jason Holder and Joshua Da Silva saved West Indies from being bowled out for a much lower total.
But England, chasing a 3-0 series whitewash, let their dominant position slip when taking up the bat for the final 35 minutes, Zak Crawley (18), Ben Duckett (3) and Mark Wood (0) being dispatched as bowler Jayden Seales dropped them to 38-3.
Windies skipper Kraigg Brathwaite won the toss and chose to bat, leading his side to a solid start before a spell of three wickets in five overs before lunch put England on top.
Atkinson accounted for Mikyle Louis (26) and Alick Athanaze (2) on either side of Wood sending stumps flying with a full delivery to dismiss Kirk McKenize for 12.
Brathwaite's knock of 61 was brought to a halt shortly after the action resumed, the captain gloving Wood's leg-side ball to Jamie Smith as the tourists slid from 76-0 to 115-5 in 45 balls.
Holder (59) and Da Silva (49) then shared 108 to drag the Windies towards a respectable total, but things looked bleak for them when the latter feathered Woakes' ball through to Smith.
Having gone 30 overs without a wicket, England needed just 14 more to polish off the tail, the highlight being a terrific diving catch from Joe Root to send Gudakesh Motie (8) packing.
England were given just over half an hour with the bat to cap Friday's action, but any hopes of a serene finish were soon dashed.
Holder made two terrific catches off Seales' bowling, the first from Crawley's thick outside edge and the second to dismiss Wood for a duck, either side of Alzarri Joseph's cracking delivery accounting for Duckett.
That spell ensured what had been a good day for the hosts ended on a sour note, with the Windies sure to target quick wickets when the action resumes on Saturday.
Data Debrief: Atkinson and Seales dominate
This series began with all the focus on James Anderson as England's greatest-ever bowler bowed out at Lord's, but Atkinson has taken centre-stage since making his Test debut in the opening match and now has 20 wickets through five innings.
That is eight more than West Indies' Jayden Seales, the next-most prolific bowler in this series, has managed.
Seales was determined to have an impact on day one, though, and his two wickets at the death have set the stage for a far more competitive match than those England won at Lord's and Trent Bridge.
Bairstow set sights on swift England Test return
Jonny Bairstow bit back when asked if he was targeting an England return, insisting it is "all I want to do."
Bairstow was dropped from England's Test team for the ongoing series against West Indies.
The 34-year-old was part of England's T20 World Cup squad, and played in all five Tests of the tour of India earlier this year.
Bairstow has made 100 Test appearances, and when asked what his immediate target was, the wicketkeeper-batsman told former England captain and now-BBC Sport pundit Michael Vaughan: "All I want to do is play for England. That's end of.
"You don't need to ask me that do you? I think you know me well enough and I think you've known me for long enough to know that."
Bairstow did, however, enjoy a break away from the game, having had four weeks off before he joined the Welsh Fire for the Hundred.
He said: "At the same time it's been a great period of time.
"I had the best part of seven months away from home. Since January, I had five nights at home in my own bed since, until three weeks ago.
"That's the thing you have to sacrifice, time at home but at the same time, when you are away for that period of time, it takes its toll."
England are 2-0 up against the Windies in their three-match series, with the final Test starting at Edgbaston on Friday.
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