Related items

• Yorkshire sign charter to support Muslim members following racism row

  Yorkshire have signed a charter committing them to recognising the needs of their Muslim players, staff and supporters.

  The club are awaiting sanctions over their handling of allegations of racism and bullying by former player Azeem Rafiq and a failure to address systemic use of racist and discriminatory language over a prolonged period.

  The Rafiq case led to major changes in the club’s leadership, with Lord Kamlesh Patel appointed chair in November 2021 and overseeing a raft of governance changes before he stood down in March this year.

  That has included working with Nujum Sports, a group which seeks to challenge clubs and organisations to make progress in supporting Muslim sportsmen and women, for over a year.

  Now Yorkshire have signed up to Nujum’s Muslim Athlete Charter.

  There are 10 points contained within the charter, such as providing space for non-consumption of alcohol, including during celebrations, the provision of appropriate places to pray, halal food, and accommodating staff and players who are fasting during Ramadan.

  Yorkshire’s equality, diversity and inclusion manager Mo Hussain said: “The pledge is another step in fulfilling our commitment to becoming a truly inclusive club.

  “Alongside our multi-faith space, providing non-alcohol family stands, and provision of halal food, our player changing spaces have also been upgraded to ensure the religious and cultural needs of our players can be met.

  “We have been working closely with Nujum Sports for more than a year and look forward to developing this relationship further.”

  Yorkshire have admitted four charges in total related to the racism scandal, with a Cricket Discipline Commission (CDC) panel holding a sanctions hearing on June 27.

  Six former Yorkshire players were sanctioned by the CDC last month in relation to the same case, with a seventh – former England captain Michael Vaughan – cleared at the end of March of using racist language towards Rafiq and three other Yorkshire players of Asian ethnicity.

• On this day 2011: England’s Matt Prior reprimanded over smashed window at Lord’s

  England wicketkeeper Matt Prior was reprimanded by the International Cricket Council after a window was smashed in the dressing room at Lord’s, on this day in 2011.

  Prior’s angry reaction came after he was run out on the final day of the second Test against Sri Lanka leading to a window in the dressing room being shattered, with a spectator in the members’ area suffering minor cuts from the broken glass.

  Prior returned to the pavilion in England’s attempt to set up a declaration on 335 for seven when the incident took place.

  The England and Wales Cricket Board were quick to respond that the incident was purely accidental and Prior had apologised to the spectator, but the ICC later opted to sanction him.

  Level one offences can be punished by a fine of 50 per cent of a player’s match fee, but Prior’s acceptance of the charge meant the punishment did not go any further beyond the reprimand.

  A statement from the ICC read: “England wicketkeeper Matt Prior has been reprimanded for breaching the ICC code of conduct during his team’s Test match against Sri Lanka at Lord’s.

  “Prior accepted the Level 1 charge and the proposed sanction from Javagal Srinath of the Emirates Elite Panel of ICC Match Referees after an incident where a window was broken in the England team dressing room.

  “He was found to have breached clause 2.1.2 of the code which relates to ‘abuse of cricket equipment or clothing, ground equipment or fixtures and fittings during an international match’.

  “The charge was brought by on-field umpires Billy Doctrove and Rod Tucker as well as third umpire Aleem Dar and fourth official Richard Illingworth.”

• Stuart Broad hopeful Andy Flower does not reveal England secrets to Australia

  Stuart Broad is crossing his fingers that Andy Flower “doesn’t give away too many secrets” after the former England coach crossed the Ashes divide to link up with Australia.

  The Zimbabwean led England for five years between 2009 and 2014, taking the Test team to number one in the world and winning the urn on three occasions including an unforgettable victory Down Under in 2010/11.

  He remained with the England and Wales Cricket Board in a variety of roles – including Lions coach, selector and interim director of cricket – before finally departing in 2019 to work as a freelance consultant coach.

  The 55-year-old, who won last year’s Hundred with Trent Rockets, was spotted at Australia’s training session on Monday, helping them prepare for English conditions in this week’s World Test Championship final against India. It has also been confirmed that he will return during the Ashes series to work with the team.

  Broad, who played much of his formative international cricket under Flower, accepts the appointment will be of some assistance to the tourists but pointed out that the current regime of Brendon McCullum and Ben Stokes had changed things up significantly since he was last inside the dressing room.

  “What’s he doing working for Australia? I didn’t know that,” he told the PA news agency at an event with new England sponsors Laithwaites.

  “Andy is someone I learned a lot from early on in my career, he taught me a lot about how to stand up to the battle of Test match cricket. I really enjoyed working under him and winning Ashes series under him. He did a lot for English cricket in his time with Andrew Strauss as captain.

  “Hopefully he doesn’t give away too many secrets! But the game has changed a lot in the last 12 months…I don’t think anyone knows any secrets on the way Brendon and Stokesy operate with this team. He’ll bring a lot of experience of Test grounds here and how the pitches play, I just hope he doesn’t share them.”

  Australia captain Pat Cummins welcomed Flower’s involvement as a source of information ahead of the series.

  “He’ll dip in and out, it’s a different voice,” he told reporters.

  “He knows these conditions really well, hopefully knows the opposition. If he can give us one little bit of insight into playing in England that we haven’t thought about, then it’s worth it. We’re pretty lucky to have someone as experienced as Andy.”

  England have no real cause for complaint, having imported their fair share of overseas coaches over the years. Australian David Saker is currently back in the England set-up as fast bowling coach for a second stint, having held the same role with the Baggy Greens in between.

  “Sakesy knows a lot about the Aussie guys, he has a lot of respect the Australia players, but we’ve got players in our changing room who know more than the coaches with the amount we’ve played against them – Stokesy, Rooty, Jimmy Anderson and myself to name a few,” Broad added.

  “There’s enough detail out there for everyone to know what’s going on.”

  :: Stuart Broad was speaking at the launch of wine merchant Laithwaites’ partnership with England Cricket. For exclusive offers on great wines this summer, visit laithwaites.co.uk.