Former Yorkshire chair Colin Graves denies any racism at club

Yorkshire’s former chair Colin Graves insisted that he had witnessed any instances of racism at the club during his tenure at the club. Graves served as Yorkshire chair between 2012 and 2015, a time that coincided with Azeem Rafiq's initial period at the club. 

Graves also doubled down on the suggestion raised within the club's initial report into Rafiq's allegations back in 2021, stating that regrettable words may have been used as “banter”. 

"When I was chairman of the club, when some of these allegations were made, I can tell you now, nothing was brought up within the club," Graves told Sky Sports News.

"And I ran the club on an open-door basis as chairman, players could come and see me if they had issues and they did so on a regular basis ... nothing was ever brought up on the table about any racism allegations whatsoever.

Earlier in the year, England and Wales Cricket Board’s (ECB) Cricket Discipline Commission published its sanction against the six former Yorkshire players who were found guilty of ‘racist’ comments towards Rafiq during his stint as a Yorkshire player. 

"I think there have been odd occasions where words have been said that people may regret afterwards," he added. "I don't think it was done on a racist, savage basis. I think there was a lot of - I know people don't like the word banter - but I think there could have been a lot of banter in there about it, and I know people don't like that."

On the other hand, ECB swiftly expressed their ‘disappointment’ over the comments made by Graves and insisted that they vehemently ‘disagree’ that it was just banter. 

"We are disappointed to see the comments made by Colin Graves on the historical racist issues at Yorkshire County Cricket Club," the ECB said in a statement.

"We must never again hear of accounts like Azeem Rafiq's, where racist slurs are used as part of normalised everyday language.

"These events, along with many issues experienced by Azeem and others during their time at Yorkshire have been upheld more than once, including during proceedings overseen by the Cricket Discipline Committee.

"We vehemently disagree that this is 'just banter' and believe that any debate in that regard should stop immediately. Racism isn't banter."