MP says return of Colin Graves to Yorkshire would be a ‘disaster for cricket’

Colin Graves returning to Yorkshire would be a “disaster” if the cricket authorities allowed it to happen, a member of the Culture, Media and Sport select committee has said.

Graves, 75, is understood to be in exclusive dialogue with the club over a return, after earlier talks with former Newcastle United owner Mike Ashley over a potential investment stalled.

Graves served as Yorkshire’s chair between 2012 and 2015, part of a 17-year period between 2004 and 2021 where the club have since admitted an England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) charge of failing to address the systemic use of racist or discriminatory language.

Clive Efford, a member of the CMS committee which heard harrowing testimony from former Yorkshire player Azeem Rafiq in November 2021 about the racism he experienced, urged the ECB to act.

“It’s a retrograde step and a disaster for cricket if the ECB allow it to happen,” Efford told the PA news agency.

“I supported Yorkshire not being stripped of the Ashes Test match on the basis that they had taken major steps and seemed determined to move forward, but clearly I was mistaken.”

The ECB withdrew Yorkshire’s right to stage lucrative international matches at Headingley over their handling of Rafiq’s case, and only reinstated it after major changes were enacted at board level.

A consortium including Graves entered into an exclusivity period with Yorkshire to discuss its offer, which it is understood ends on Friday. Yorkshire are understood to urgently require an injection of cash to cover running costs.

The club also owe £14.9million to their major creditor, the Graves Trust, although chief executive Stephen Vaughan told members at an extraordinary general meeting last September that a deal had been done to defer any repayments until 2025.

Robin Smith, himself a former Yorkshire chair, told PA: “Colin Graves’ consortium’s proposal for Yorkshire comes from people of integrity and relevant experience.

“It is well capable of restoring desperately needed confidence amongst Yorkshire members and the wider public and it deserves support. I am confident that it will get it.”

The ECB declined to comment on the possibility of Graves returning to Yorkshire when approached, but was critical of comments he made in an interview with Sky Sports last June.

Graves, who also served as ECB chair between 2015 and 2020, said he never witnessed racism during the time he was at the club and that nothing was ever raised to him about it.

He added: “I think there’s been odd occasions where words have been said that people may regret afterwards. 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.”

The ECB said at the time it was “disappointed” by Graves’ comments and added: “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 Commission.

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

“Yorkshire is of huge importance to cricket in England and Wales with a deep history and an ability to inspire and connect all cricket fans. They are currently working hard to resolve their financial and cultural challenges and the club, and its new management, have our full support.”

Yorkshire declined to respond to Efford’s comments on Thursday.