Yorkshire CCC admits to have deleted or lost documents and data relating to allegations of racism

Image by Getty Images/Azeem Rafiq

The Yorkshire County Cricket Club have confirmed that the documents and data pertaining to the allegations of racism against it were deleted or lost under the jurisdiction of the previous management.

After an investigation by the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) into the allegations made in 2021 by former Yorkshire player Azeem Rafiq about the rampant institutional racism at the club, it admitted to four amended charges against it placed by the board.

The club, in a statement released on 23 February mentioned: “After 5 November 2021, it was discovered that emails and documents, both held electronically by the Club and in paper copy, had been irretrievably deleted from both servers and laptops and otherwise destroyed.

“After a thorough independent investigation it was established that the deletion and destruction of documents date from a time period prior to the appointment of Lord Patel and relate to the allegations of racism and the Club’s response to those allegations.”

The club is facing a Cricket Discipline Commission (CDC) hearing is commencing this week and added in its statement that even though it admits to the charges of the deletion of highly important data, it is not in the position to say “why this occurred, who was responsible or the motivation or the motivation for doing so.”

Rafiq, who is a former England Under-19s captain of Pakistani background, took it upon himself to inform a British parliamentary committee in 2021 about the “inhuman” treatment he had to go through at Yorkshire and said that the sport in England was “riddled with racism.”

It has been reported that Yorkshire will not be attending the CDC hearing in London that will take place from March 1 to March 9 after accepting the allegations. Ex-player Gary Balance who used racially discriminatory language and admitted to it will also not attend.

Former Yorkshire players including Tim Bresnan, John Blain, Matthew Hoggard, Andrew Gale and Richard Pyrah, all of whom were charged by the ECB in June last year, have all withdrawn from the hearing as well. Former England captain Michael Vaughan is the only accused who will appear at the hearing.