Colin Graves has called for a “line in the sand” to be drawn on Yorkshire’s turbulent recent history after members voted in favour of his return as chairman on Friday.
A resolution to accept a loan offer to the debt-ridden club from the 76-year-old, who has previously served as chairman and helped to save Yorkshire from financial ruin in 2002, received overwhelming support from members at a heated extraordinary general meeting.
Graves’ comeback will be controversial given the racism scandal which has engulfed the club since 2020 took place partially on his watch, with Yorkshire member Gurminder Singh speaking out at the EGM to say it was Graves who had “led (Yorkshire) down the path” to their current difficulties.
Graves warned it may be a “bumpy ride” ahead but struck a conciliatory tone after the special resolution was passed by an 88 per cent majority among the 845 who cast votes – just under a quarter of the 3,500 members who were eligible to vote.
“I give my personal pledge to you and the entire Yorkshire public that regardless of background, community, ethnicity, everybody – and I mean everybody – will be welcomed in a solid, inclusive culture and environment at Yorkshire County Cricket Club. There will be no exception,” he said.
“What the board has done in this area over the last two years is a great job and will be continued.
“I have already unreservedly apologised for any and all mistakes that were either made by the club or I over the painful and difficult years in the past.
“Let’s draw a line in the sand. What’s happened is history – I can’t change it, you can’t change it. So there’s no point dwelling on it. We’ve all put our hand up and said if things were wrong, we apologise. Let’s forget that. Let’s look forward.
“Lessons have been learned and will continue to be acted upon. Make no mistake, this is not going to be easy. It will be a bumpy ride. But we can do this together with hard work, with transparency, with trust and with enthusiasm.
“I’m not doing this for fun, I’m not doing this for the good of Colin Graves, I can assure you I am doing this for the good of Yorkshire County Cricket Club.
“I could be sat at home with my slippers on my feet doing nothing. I made the decision to come here, sort this club out and get it back to where it needs to be.”
Last month, when the board recommended to members that Graves’ offer be accepted, Graves apologised to anyone who had experienced racism at Yorkshire. Azeem Rafiq, who spoke out in 2020 about the discrimination he faced, said at the time he did not accept that apology.
The England and Wales Cricket Board warned last month it was “vital” the work done to tackle discrimination at Yorkshire continued, and that it had “significant powers which can be used to hold Yorkshire to account” if that was not found to be the case.
The Culture, Media and Sport select committee confirmed on Friday that Graves would appear before it alongside senior figures from the ECB on February 20 to answer questions about the sport’s progress in tackling discrimination.
CMS committee chair Dame Caroline Dinenage said: “On the Yorkshire takeover, while Colin Graves has now apologised to those who experienced racism, and for his dismissive approach to those who suffered, during his last spell at the club, we want to make sure that lessons have been learnt and attitudes have changed.”
The appointment of Graves to the board and three associates – Phillip Hodson, Sanjay Patel and Sanjeev Gandhi – as non-executive directors is still subject to approval from the Financial Conduct Authority over the next two weeks, which Graves said limited his ability to spell out his plans for the club.
Members were asked to recommend the loan offer from Graves in a notice issued on January 11. It consists of a two-part unsecured personal loan of £1million from Graves, while the new non-executive directors will work with the board to arrange a further £4million of funding over the next five months.
Current chair Harry Chathli told media after the meeting that the board’s initial focus in its search for refinancing had been on retaining Yorkshire’s members’ club status, and that deals to sell the club which would have ended that status could have been accepted “three times over” at least.
However, Chathli and chief executive Stephen Vaughan both made clear to members that as things stood now, the club would be facing administration without Graves’ offer.
“We as directors would not be discharging our duty of care if we deliberately put this club into administration just because we didn’t like a personality. That cannot happen,” Chathli said during the meeting.
Vaughan added: “We have kissed a lot of frogs and been to lots of beauty parades, and we are at a place now where the deal that Colin and his team are bringing to the table is the only one that will keep the business solvent going forward.”
Record-breaking Root edges England closer to Sri Lanka victory
Joe Root hit a record-breaking century as England edged closer to sealing their series victory over Sri Lanka at Lord's.
Root, who equalled Alastair Cook's record during the first innings of the second Test, made 103 from 111 balls for his 34th Test ton.
England resumed on 25-1 at the start of day three, with Root leading the way for the hosts and the crowd rose as one when a sweeping four completed his landmark century.
He helped his nation set their opponents a target of 483 after they were 251 all out.
As the light faded over Lord's, so too did Sri Lanka's momentum in their record-attempting chase, with Gus Atkinson and Olly Stone claiming Nishan Madushka and Pathum Nissanka respectively.
Play was eventually halted due to bad light, and called off to be resumed on Sunday with the tourists at 53-2 with Dimuth Karunaratne (23) and Prabath Jayasuriya (three) at the crease.
Data Debrief: Root revels on record-breaking day
Day three of the second Test belonged to Root, whose century was also his quickest in Test cricket.
Adding to his 143 in England's first innings, he registered two tons in a match for the first time, while becoming only the fourth player to achieve that feat in a Test at Lord's.
Root also joins Brian Lara and Sachin Tendulkar in scoring 5,000 Test runs in two different decades, while closing the gap on Cook's all-time England tally (12,472) to just 95.
If that was not enough for him, he also took the catches for both of Sri Lanka's wickets, making him the first England player to reach 200 in Test cricket.
Last Hurrah: Dwayne Bravo to call time on CPL career after this year's edition
Former West Indies all-rounder Dwayne Bravo says this year’s edition of the Caribbean Premier League (CPL) will be his last hurrah as he announced his retirement from the tournament on Saturday.
Bravo, who represents the Trinbago Knight Riders, made the revelation on his Instagram account hours ahead of the franchise’s opening contest against St Kitts and Nevis Patriots in Basseterre, scheduled for 7:00pm.
“It's been a great journey, and I'm looking forward to playing my final professional tournament in front of my Caribbean people," Bravo said in his post.
“TKR is the place where everything started for me and will end with my team,” he added.
The 40-year-old’s post all but indicates the end of a decorated professional career, as he retired from international cricket in 2021 after the T20 World Cup and also announced his retirement from the Indian Premier League (IPL) a year later after being part of four title-winning Chennai Super Kings campaigns.
Bravo, known for his flair and skillful batting and bowling, is currently the CPL’s highest wicket-taker with 128 scalps in 103 games at an average of 22.40 and economy rate of 8.69.
In fact, Bravo is the leading wicket-taker in all T20s, with 630 scalps in 578 matches. He has also scored 6,970 runs with the bat.
No doubt the electrifying Trinidad and Tobago stalwart will go down as one of T20's early legends, having played seven World Cups in the format, winning two titles, as well as over 15 franchise league titles. He is the first bowler to get to 500 T20 wickets.
CWI targets domestic T20 competition in 2025 to identify Caribbean representative(s) for 2028 Olympic Games
Cricket West Indies (CWI) president Dr. Kishore Shallow says plans are already afoot to host a domestic T20 competition next year to determine the Caribbean representative(s) for the 2028 Olympic Games in Los Angeles.
Shallow, once again welcoming cricket’s return to the Olympic Games, pointed out that his administration is already in dialogue with the Caribbean Premier League (CPL) hierarchy to stage the domestic competition in 2025.
Cricket, which last featured at an Olympic Games in 1900, was always set for a long-awaited return to the global multi-sport showpiece, and the International Olympic Committee (IOC) last year confirmed it and four other sports—baseball/softball, flag football, lacrosse, and squash—for the LA Games.
“To add cricket to the agenda in the next Olympics is certainly going to be something tremendous, as we did in the Commonwealth Games a couple years ago when we had one of our teams representing the females. We at the time chose our original women’s tournament, and the winner at the time was Barbados, so they represented the region,” Shallow said.
“We anticipate something similar will be done unless they tell us all the teams can come and participate, which would be ideal, but it is unlikely for that to happen,” he added.
Shallow also explained that the CPL champions cannot represent the region at the Olympic Games given that the tournament is franchise-based and involves players from other parts of the world.
As such, he revealed that he has engaged CARICOM leaders regarding plans for a domestic T20 competition from which the winner or top finishers would secure the coveted Olympic Games spot(s).
“We have been in discussion with CPL for them to fund a domestic T20 tournament starting next year. I think Miles Bascombe and his team have already scheduled a window for that next year in 2025. Once we are able to have that tournament, then we can use that to determine which team or teams will participate in the Olympics on behalf of CWI,” Shallow shared.
“We can’t use the CPL as it is now because it’s franchises. But in the domestic tournament that we’re having, which will still have a commercial model to it but not to the extent of CPL, but that will more than likely be territories instead of franchises, so we will be able to identify teams,” he noted.
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